Honduran interim government says open to early election

FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2009

by Xian Wan, Southeast Asia Editor of biodun-iginla@bbcnews.com

www.chinaview.cn

2009-07-03 14:10:41

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·Honduran interim government said it was open to an early election. ·Zelaya said he may forgive the coup participants and was preparing for going home.
·Zelaya's supporters staged their largest rally since the coup in capital Thursday.

TEGUCIGALPA\PANAMA CITY, July 2 (Xinhua)

-- The Honduran interim government Thursday said it was open to an early election to resolve the country's political crisis, while ousted Honduran President Manuel ZelayaManuel Zelaya insisted he had no fear of returning home.

Roberto Micheletti, Hondura's interim president, told reporters that as long as it was within the law, he would have no objections to bringing forward a Nov. 29 presidential election in an effort to resolve the country's political problem caused by the ouster of Zelaya.

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya waves to the supporters upon his arrival in San Salvador, capital of EL Salvador, July 2, 2009. Zelaya said Thursday that he planned to return to Honduras on Saturday, instead of his previously announced Thursday when the ultimatum issued by the Organization of American States (OAS) expires. (Xinhua/Oscar rivera)
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If there is a "political solution... we have no problem (advancing the elections), whenever it will be for the good of all Hondurans," Micheletti said, softening his previous stance.

In an interview with the HRN radio, Zelaya's defense minister Aristides Mejia said Zelaya has no idea of seeking a re-election and is willing to drop plans on constitutional amendments that led to his ouster.

Zelaya was removed from office in a military coup Sunday, just hours after some 200 soldiers surrounded his official residence and forced him to board a plane to Costa Rica.

A referendum scheduled for the same day on changing the country's constitution has put Zelaya at odds with the military, the courts and the legislature.

In the vote, Hondurans were to be asked whether they would back an official referendum in November, to be held alongside the scheduled presidential election, to change the constitution to allow a president to seek a reelection.

The oppositions accused Zelaya, whose current term expires in January next year, of seeking a reelection through the referendum, and the Supreme Court and the attorney general have announced that the vote was illegal.

The Honduran Congress announced later Sunday that Micheletti would replace Manuel Zelaya as the country's acting president.

In another development, more than 6,000 Zelaya's supporters staged their largest demonstration since the coup in the Honduran capital Thursday, while a roughly equal number of Micheletti's supporters held a rival rally in the country's second largest city of San Pedro Sula.

ZELAYA SAYS NO FEAR OF RETURNING

In Panama City, where Zelaya had a short stay for attending the inauguration ceremony of Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli before going to El Salvador, the ousted leader indicated that he may forgive the coup participants and was preparing for going home.

The coup plunged Honduras into a crisis and may lead to international isolation for the country, he told a press conference.

Zelaya also said that the secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel InsulzaJose Miguel Insulza, will visit Honduras on Friday, shortly before the end of an OAS deadline for Honduras to bring back Zelaya or face a membership suspension, to deliver an ultimatum to coup leaders on Zelaya's reinstatement.

"I have no fear of returning," Zelaya said.

Zelaya, who vowed to return home this weekend, said several political figures, including Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her Ecuadoran counterpart Rafael CorreaRafael Correa Delgado, had been invited to join him on the trip.

Meanwhile, Insulza, who was in Guyana for a regional meeting, dismissed any idea of negotiating with the coup participants.

"We are not going to Honduras to negotiate, we are going to Honduras to ask them to change what they have been doing now, and find ways in which we can return to normalcy," he said.

Zelaya arrived in El Salvador late Thursday.

L American congress leaders to accompany Zelaya back to Honduras

Supporters of Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya stage a rally in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, July 1, 2009. Honduras' President Zelaya said he will postpone his return to Honduras 72 hours to the weekend, instead of Thursday, as originally planned. (Xinhua/David De La Paz)
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QUITO, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The heads of nine Latin American legislatures promised to accompany ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya back to his country, Ecuadorian congress leader said Thursday. Full story

Honduras interim gov't declines to negotiate with OAS

TEGUCIGALPA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Honduras' post-coup government will not negotiate with the OAS and allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to office, the interim government said Wednesday.

"Anyone who has violated the law cannot be reinstated," the newly-appointed foreign minister Enrique Ortez Colindrez told the media.

"Honduras' sovereignty cannot be negotiated with the Organization of American States (OAS), nor with anyone," said the minister, who was named by the acting president Roberto Micheletti immediately after the coup. Full story

Interim Honduran president accuses Venezuela of intervening affairs

TEGUCIGALPA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti Wednesday accused Venezuelan President Hugo ChavezHugo Chavez of intervening Honduras' affairs.

"The intervention of the government of Hugo Chavez is clear and definite in the situation that Honduras is experiencing," Micheletti said. Full story

Honduras president postpones return home after OAS ultimatum

The ousted President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, June 30, 2009. Manuel Zelaya expressed his gratitude toward the international community and tearfully described the last moments in his home country before being thrown onto a plane and whisked away. (Xinhua/Gu Xinrong)
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WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said here on Wednesday that he would postpone his plan to return home after the Organization of American States (OAS) gave the country an ultimatum to restore him to power. Full story

Coup-deposed Honduran president vows to return despite arrest warrant

TEGUCIGALPA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Tuesday vowed to return to the country despite an arrest threat that could put him in jail for 20 years.

Zelaya has won wide international supports, and he will make a high-profile comeback flanked by the president of the UN General Assembly, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS) and presidents of Argentina and Ecuador on a flight to Honduras on Thursday. Full story

General Assembly condemns military coup in Honduras

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution to condemn the military coup in Honduras and demand the immediate restoration of the government of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

The resolution also asked all the countries not to recognize the military regime that took power by force. Full story

Backgrounder: key facts about Republic of Honduras

Editor: Xiong Tong Related Stories L American congress leaders to accompany Zelaya back to Honduras Zelaya's ally arrested in Honduras Zelaya says willing to pardon coup leaders Tegucigalpa-Honduras′ Micheletti warns deposed president Zelaya not to return Ousted president Zelaya says will return to Honduras Home World Back to Top POSTED BY BIODUNIGINLA AT 4:52 AM LABELS: BBC NEWS. XIAN WAN, BIODUN IGINLA, HONDURAS