(Bloomberg) -- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s decades-long road to the presidency of Mexico culminated with his inauguration on Saturday, as the 65-year-old leftist received the presidential sash in a ceremony at the nation’s lower house of Congress.

The leader known as AMLO officially took the reins, five months after cruising to victory in July’s election. He promises to fight corruption, tackle Mexico’s soaring violence, and reconsider a rush to privatization. His win followed failed bids in 2006 and 2012. In brief remarks on Saturday he gave a stinging rebuke of Mexico’s “neoliberal” policies of recent years.

The assemblage of global statesmen expected to attend the event -- including U.S Vice President Mike Pence and British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn -- mirrored the myriad public personas of Lopez Obrador. Few observers could bet with confidence which side of the president will eventually emerge triumphant: the populist who recently defied investors by scrapping a $13 billion airport, or the conciliator who appeared immediately after his landslide election victory.

As a matter of practicality he may switch between the two, although that would pose its own risks for an economy that’s overcome decades of crises with the aid of policies that favor slower, steadier growth. If he opts for unpredictability, AMLO doesn’t have very far to look for inspiration: he’s already been compared by some to U.S. President Donald Trump in style, if not in policies.

Migrant Caravans

Trump, and his threat to close the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico border to stop migrant caravans, will likely supply the first major test of his presidency. AMLO could go on the offensive as he did at the start of his presidential campaign, lambasting Trump for violating immigrants’ rights, or he could try stopping Central Americans from crossing into the U.S., risking a backlash at home for kowtowing to a U.S president who’s repeatedly insulted Mexicans.

Either way, he can no longer remain on the sidelines about Trump as he’s done during the long transition period.

After the swearing in AMLO heads to the National Palace to have lunch with visiting foreign dignitaries. At 5 p.m. local time he’ll deliver an address to the nation from the balcony of the National Palace.

Investor Fright

Many investors had hoped AMLO would prove a pragmatic leftist, prioritizing the poor without jeopardizing the nation’s hard-won reputation for economic prudence. To some degree the jury is still out -- his budget proposal due this month will help clarify his intentions. Mexico’s incoming finance minister has given some reason for money managers to offer AMLO the benefit of the doubt by pledging to target the largest primary surplus since 2008.

But the big question going forward is whether Lopez Obrador can regain the trust of investors spooked by his airport decision. For a president who aims to govern with a populist bent, with plans to hold referendums on almost every major decision, it may not even be in his interest to do so.

To some extent, Lopez Obrador represents Mexico’s greatest shift in political power in living memory. While Vicente Fox of the National Action Party officially broke the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s, or PRI’s, eight-decade hold on presidential power in 2000, he left many of the same economically liberal technocrats in place. He also remained beholden to a congress where the PRI held the most votes.

By contrast, the president-elect has brought in many new faces at the federal level, and his political party’s majority in both houses of congress concentrates a great deal of power in the hands of Lopez Obrador’s upstart Morena party.

Imperial Presidency?

Unlike the PRI, which spent decades as an institution permeated with different cliques and power bases, Morena began as a movement centered around one man -- Lopez Obrador -- after he lost the presidential race to Enrique Pena Nieto in 2012. Almost everyone in the party and his government owes their position to him, raising fears about a return to an imperial presidency where congress acts as a mere rubber stamp.

It’s been a rocky road from the election to the inauguration. Financial markets took a beating over the past month after Lopez Obrador cited the results of a referendum organized by his own party to cancel the $13 billion airport project. That triggered the biggest peso rout since the 2016 U.S. election. Then stocks tumbled to a four-and-a-half-year low last week as Morena stuck to its proposal to cut bank fees, even after AMLO tried to walk back the plan.

Mexico’s landmark plan to open energy development to private investment has also come under a cloud after incoming energy minister Rocio Nahle told local media she’ll suspend oil auctions until 2021, while respecting investments already made by companies. Juan Carlos Zepeda, Mexico’s hydrocarbons regulator, quit after reports of pressure from Nahle, although he denied that was the reason.

Rate Hike

Banxico, the Mexican central bank, raised its key interest rate in mid November to 8 percent, the highest in a decade, saying the airport decision and broader policy uncertainty have worsened the inflation outlook by weakening the peso. Earlier this week it warned that public policy decisions could result in a loss of confidence in Mexico as a destination for investors.

Among the confirmed attendees at Saturday’s ceremonies include Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam, Riad Malki of Palestine, U.S. Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen and first daughter Ivanka Trump.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.net;Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Bruce Douglas, Ros Krasny

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.