Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon asked Congress to cap salaries for government officials after issuing an executive order cutting his own pay.

The proposed legislation, which applies to all three branches of government as well as states and municipalities, stipulates that no official can earn more than the president, Calderon said. He signed a decree on Dec. 3 that reduced managerial-level salaries, including his own, by 10 percent in the executive branch.

``The government exists to serve, not as an instrument to serve oneself,'' Calderon said during a news conference at the presidential residence in Mexico City today. ``Everyone has the right to a fair salary, but no one has the right to get rich at the expense of others.''

Calderon's bill, which seeks to apply uniform criteria for determining government salaries, signals he is seeking to fulfill a campaign promise to incorporate the agenda of election rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador into his government. Lopez Obrador, who lost the July 2 election by less than 0.6 percentage point, had pledged to slash government salaries and do away with pensions to former presidents.

After Calderon cut his own salary he earns 139,000 pesos ($12,694) a month, the Spanish daily El Pais quoted him as saying during an interview.

``Calderon is using part of Lopez Obrador's agenda, but it became part of Lopez Obrador's agenda because a majority of the public thinks that politicians are basically thieves,'' Federico Estevez, a politics professor at the Autonomous Institute of Technology of Mexico, said in a telephone interview. ``If politicians weren't held in such ill repute, it wouldn't be part of anyone's agenda.''

The cuts to the executive branch will save 25.5 billion pesos ($2.3 billion) by reducing managerial-level salaries and cutting spending on services, office supplies and electricity, Calderon said Dec. 3. The government will apply the savings to social programs, he said.

The areas of the executive branch that deal with public security and justice won't be included in the reduction plan, he said Dec. 3.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Harrington in Mexico City at Pharrington8@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 23, 2007 17:43 EST