Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The speaker of Mexico's lower house said he may ask for security personnel to ensure President-elect Felipe Calderon can be sworn in Dec. 1 after legislators scuffled over control of the congressional dais yesterday.

Lawmakers from Calderon's National Action Party and the opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution camped out at the dais last night after fighting to gain control of the area where Calderon is scheduled to take his oath of office. In the traditional ceremony, Calderon would receive the presidential sash from President Vicente Fox at Congress.

``I don't want to reach that scenario,'' said Speaker of the House Jorge Zermeno in a television interview on a channel operated by Grupo Televisa SA. ``But if it's necessary, I have the ability to request help from public security.''

Legislators from the Party of the Democratic Revolution have vowed to take control of the dais to prevent Calderon from being sworn in, a tactic the party used to block Fox from giving his annual state of the nation speech at Congress on Sept. 1.

The party's legislators claim the July 2 election, in which Calderon defeated their candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, by less than 0.6 percentage point, was riddled with fraud.

A electoral court rejected the party's fraud claims. In the same ruling, the court admonished Fox for trying to influence the election with government-paid advertisements and speeches.

Aisle

Javier Gonzalez Garza, leader of legislators from the Party of the Democratic Revolution, said his party wants Calderon to select an alternate site for his swearing in. Gonzalez's party is committed to blocking the inauguration, scheduled for a joint session of Congress that Zermeno convened for 10:30 a.m. New York time Dec. 1.

``We're not going to sit there like sticks during a ceremony in which we don't agree,'' Gonzalez said in a separate Televisa interview. ``Legally, he can be sworn-in at any other place.''

After the July 2 election, the National Action Party became the largest party in the house for the first time with 206 legislators.

The Party of the Democratic Revolution gained 30 legislators to reach 127 and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which controlled the presidency for 71 years before Fox's election in 2000, fell to 106 seats in the house from 203 in the previous legislature.

`Commitment'

The Institutional Revolutionary Party has tried to broker an agreement between the two parties with little success. Emilio Gamboa, leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in the lower house of congress, said his party will attend Calderon's inauguration to make sure it's legal.

``We reiterate our commitment to the governability of the country,'' he said in a television interview. ``The aggressions and intolerance between representatives is inadmissible.''

Mexico's congress television channel showed live footage of legislators kicking each other and wrestling on the ground. In one instance, an opposition legislator leaped onto the dais and clung to it face down as members of the National Action Party rolled him off.

More than 105 delegations from around the world are expected to witness Calderon's inauguration, Zermeno said, including a U.S. contingent consisting of former President George H.W. Bush, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.

Zermeno rejected the idea of holding the ceremony at another locale to avoid the protests. Calderon said yesterday he will attend his inauguration at Congress on Dec. 1 as outlined by the law.

``We have a constitutional obligation as legislators to receive on Dec. 1 the constitutional inauguration of who is president-elect of the people of Mexico,'' Zermeno said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Mexico City at tblack@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 29, 2006 15:18 EST