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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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President-Elect Lobo “Best
Positioned” To
Return Democratic Rule To Honduras
WASHINGTON -
Washington based Organization of American
States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza
said on Friday that Honduras president
–elect Porfirio Lobo is the person “best
positioned” to boost the restoration of
democratic rule in the Central American
country.
During the extraordinary session of the OAS
Permanent Council Insulza said that the
speed with which such an objective is
obtained depends on the “effective will of
the new government and specifically on the
initiatives adopted” by the Lobo
administration.
The OAS top official suggested that Lobo
distance himself from the coup leaders.
Honduras currently has three “leaders”:
ousted Zelaya, de facto Roberto Micheletti
and president elect Lobo.
Insulza also said that the recent vote in
the Honduran congress contrary to the
reinstatement of ousted president Zelaya
“was a simple repeat of the June 28th script
with the same players”.
According to an agreement brokered by the
OAS and Washington, between Zelaya and the
de facto rulers, the Honduran Congress had
to vote on the reinstatement of the ousted
president until the end of his mandate next
January 27th, and name a national unity and
reconciliation committee.
Therefore the congressional vote and the
absence of the committee “have not helped to
overcome the democracy and political crisis
in Honduras”.
Insulza called for an end to the
“persecution of Zelaya” and said that once
Lobo is in office human rights must be
strictly respected and all political forces
should reach a national agreement to ensure
the return to democratic rule.
Finally he said that OAS can’t have an
opinion “on an election where we had no
observers and took place under very special
circumstances”.
Meantime contrary to first estimates
Honduran election officials revised down the
participation rate in the weekend’s
controversial vote from more than 60% to
49%.
The US and the European Union hailed the
vote as a first step forward out of the
five-month crisis, but the elections have
split the Americas, with Brazil leading
claims that they would whitewash the coup.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) posted
figures of 49% participation after two
thirds of votes were counted, down from 62%
initially given on Sunday. The tribunal has
30 days to provide final results for the
general elections in which 4.6 million
Hondurans were eligible to vote.
The impoverished Central American nation
remains in limbo, with de facto leader
Roberto Micheletti in charge, while Zelaya
remains holed up in the Brazilian embassy
ever since returning in September and facing
threat of arrest.
The 128-member Congress voted 111-14 on
Wednesday against bringing Zelaya back to
the presidency until his term runs out on
January 27, despite pressure from the
international community to make a gesture
against the coup.
The Latinamerican Parliament, a regional
group, sanctioned the Honduran Congress by
voting to suspend it on Friday, lawmakers
said after a meeting in Panama.
Zelaya supporters, who confronted a
heavy-handed military crackdown while
attempting to protest the coup, agreed late
Thursday to give up their campaign to demand
his reinstatement, but said they would still
fight for his plan to change the
constitution.
Zelaya now appears left with the options of
negotiating his release with Lobo, seeking
exile or remaining in the embassy. The
cowboy-hated deposed leader beat Lobo by a
small margin in 2005 elections, which saw
55% participation.
Secretary General Insulza warned at the
start of the OAS Permanent Council's meeting
that the body was divided on the Honduran
elections, adding that "recognizing a
government as legitimate" was a decision
each OAS member state must make freely”.
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