MEXICO CITY (By James C. McKinley, NYTimes) September 2, 2005 - Five years after his historic election triumph, President Vicente Fox made a case in a speech to Mexico's Congress on Thursday night that he had laid the cornerstones for Mexico's democracy, made the government more transparent and stabilized the country's volatile economy.
In his annual speech to lawmakers, the president pointed out he came to office without a majority in Congress. Instead of trying to rule like authoritarian presidents in the past, he said, he had respected the role of Congress and the courts, creating a genuine division of powers.
"We have put an end to excessive power that the president concentrated in his hands," he said, alluding to the 70 years of one-party rule before his victory five years ago.
Mr. Fox also said his government had succeeded in stabilizing the nation's economy, which used to collapse with each change in government. "The era of recurrent economic crises has come to an end," he said. Mr. Fox also pointed to his administration's efforts to expand public housing programs, universal health care and access to primary education.
But Mr. Fox acknowledged Mexico still faced enormous challenges, chief among them the endemic poverty of much of the country and the out-of-control violence and crime in some areas. The president said stopping crime would require more than federal officers and money, but the participation of all levels of government and the citizens themselves.
"This is not a problem that arose yesterday, neither can it be resolved in a day," he said. "To put an end to crime requires that we all go all the way."
In the end, the speech seemed a plea for Mexicans not to lose sight of the economic and democratic advances made in his term, even as the presidential campaign begins to heat up. The Institutional Revolutionary Party, which governed through corruption and violence for decades, has a good chance to return to power, and Mr. Fox seemed to suggest the battle to create a stable democracy had just begun. "The society has won one of the many battles for democracy," he said. "Thanks to the citizens, Mexico is not nor will it ever be again the same as it was before. Thanks to the citizens, Mexico will not march backward."
The assembled deputies and senators were more polite to Mr. Fox than in past years. Only three times was he interrupted by hecklers. Here and there, lawmakers held up signs in the congressional chamber calling him a liar or accusing him of forgetting to govern. One lawmaker wore a long Pinocchio nose.
The speech was the last time Mr. Fox is scheduled to address the nation before the July 2, 2006, elections to replace him. He is prohibited from seeking a second term.
Though his victory in July 2000 broke the 71-year tradition of one-party rule, Mr. Fox has not been able to enact the tax, justice and social security reforms that he had promised before he was elected.
In his speech Thursday night, he suggested the opposition had sabotaged his legislation for political reasons and warned they would hurt the country, leaving it further behind its competitors in the world. He asked them to overcome partisan bickering and to seek consensus.
"I can affirm, without any sort of personal interest, that to postpone these decisions implies grave costs for the development of the nation," he said. "Sooner or later, we have to face them."
In a response, a congressman from the old governing party, Heliodoro Diαz Escαrraga, said: "Today the people want deeds not words. Mexicans, more than speeches, demand courageous firmness."
