Deposed Honduran President, Manuel Zelaya is awaiting word from congress on whether he can serve out his last term.
After being ousted June 28th for planning to hold a non-binding public consultation to determine public support in changing in the constitution, Zelaya secretly returned to Honduras in September. He is currently taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa and intends to return to power to serve out his term. Critics of Zelaya maintain that he aims to remove the one-term limit on presidency and seek re-election.
Congressional president Jose Alvedro Saavedra said Congress will meet in early December to decide if Zelaya will continue his term as president. Elections in Honduras are scheduled for November 29 with transfer of power to the winner occurring on January 27. Zelaya said if he was not reinstated, the new elections would be unlawful.
The US had acted as intermediary between Zelaya and interim president Roberto Micheletti, but the proposed deal fell through earlier this month. US senior diplomat Craig Kelly returned to Honduras Tuesday to revive the deal and propose a solution for both sides.
Zelaya says that if congress votes to restore him to office after the elections, he would not return.
Interim president Micheletti says that the only way out of the current political crisis is to continue with the elections planned for late November. Micheletti also said that Zelaya must accept this for the country to move forward. “We know perfectly well already Mr. Zelaya’s actions. He has been a man who has violated any promise that he made,” Micheletti said.
Zelaya, exiled for three months before his return, says he will have no problem facing trial or prosecution because “my hands are clean and my chin is up”.
