Mexican President-Elect Swears in Staff

Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon, drinks water while naming his top law enforcement and military Cabinet members in Mexico City, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006. President-elect Felipe Calderon named his top law enforcement and military Cabinet members on Thursday, and vowed to appear before Congress for his swearing-in ceremony. In announcing the appointments, Calderon said he would not back down from appearing in Congress on Friday for his inauguration _ despite leftist lawmakers camped out on the congressional stage who have vowed to block him. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) (Eduardo Verdugo - AP)

MEXICO CITY -- Felipe Calderon took charge of Mexico's presidential residence Friday in an unusual midnight ceremony, getting a head start on opponents trying to block his inauguration. Calderon also swore in some of his staff and said he would not be deterred from taking the formal oath of office before Congress later Friday.

Lawmakers allied with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Calderon's leftist rival in the disputed presidential election, have occupied the podium where the swearing-in is to take place.

In a live broadcast from the presidential residence of Los Pinos, Calderon called on Mexicans to leave behind the divisions that have dogged him and the country since the July 2 vote. He takes over from Vicente Fox, who handed over his presidential sash as his term ended at midnight.

"I have received the presidential offices from President Vicente Fox, the start of the process of taking possession of the presidency," Calderon said. "Later, I will appear before Congress to take the constitutional oath."

Absent from the closed-door midnight ceremony were the angry protesters who have pledged to block Calderon's inauguration. But Lopez Obrador, who claims Calderon used fraud to win the July 2 vote, had already called on supporters to gather early Friday in Mexico City's main square.

Calderon's supporters occupied central Mexico City for months following the election, demanding a full recount.

While demonstrators were unlikely to reach Congress on Friday _ its perimeter was ringed by police and presidential guards _ conditions inside the building might be more worrisome for Calderon.

Lawmakers of Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party, the PRD, literally battled ruling party legislators _ often with wrestling moves and shoving _ for control of parts of the speaker's podium on Tuesday, then staked out their territory by camping out with blankets and pillows for three days, in a bid to block the ceremony.

In September, leftist lawmakers managed to block Fox from giving his state-of-the-nation speech in Congress by occupying the same dais.

Calderon called on lawmakers to respect the constitutional process. "I invite you to build a better, different Mexico, a winning Mexico," he said.

He praised Fox for "honesty, loyalty and working for the good of Mexico."

The first opposition candidate ever to hold the presidency in Mexico, Fox marked his last evening in office with a visit to Mexico City's Basilica of Guadalupe, one of the holiest sites for Mexico's Roman Catholics, the same place he visited six years ago before taking office.