[HNA] Honduras revises down participation in disputed polls

Fri Dec 4 15:33:30 PST 2009

--- On Fri, 12/4/09, Alexander Main <main at cepr.net> wrote:

From: Alexander Main <main at cepr.net>
Subject: Honduras revises down participation in disputed polls
To: presente-honduras at lists.mayfirst.org
Date: Friday, December 4, 2009, 3:41 PM

I wonder if the US administration will now issue an apology for having
helped the Honduran electoral authority promote the myth that there was
an unprecedented level of participation in these elections

-------- Original Message --------

      Subject: 
      [hondurasaction] Honduras revises down participation in
disputed polls

      Date: 
      Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:38:25 -0500

      From: 
      Jake Johnston <johnston at cepr.net>

      Reply-To: 
      hondurasaction at yahoogroups.com

      To: 
      hondurasaction at yahoogroups.com

Honduras revises down participation in disputed polls
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iGj_1PUztI4KpS1N4rBByhtjqRpg 

TEGUCIGALPA — Election officials in Honduras on Friday revised down the 
participation rate in controversial weekend elections from more than 60 
percent to 49 percent.

Conservative Porfirio Lobo claimed a solid victory in Sunday's polls for 
a successor to ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

De facto leaders hoped the elections would turn a page on the June 28 coup.

The United States and European Union recognized the polls as a first 
step forward out of the five-month crisis, but the vote split the 
Americas, with Brazil leading claims that they would whitewash the coup.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) posted figures of 49 percent 
participation after two thirds of votes were counted, down from 62 
percent given initially on Sunday.

The tribunal has 30 days to give 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 a de 
facto leader -- Roberto Micheletti -- in charge, while Zelaya is holed 
up in the Brazilian embassy, where he has been under threat of arrest 
since returning in September.

The 128-member Congress voted by 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 Latin American 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.

The military packed left-leaning Zelaya on a plane to Costa Rica with 
the blessing of Congress, the Supreme Court and business leaders over 
his plans to alter the constitution, which they saw as a bid to remove 
the current one-term limit for presidents.

Zelaya now appears left with the options of negotiating his release with 
Lobo, seeking exile or remaining in the embassy.

Zelaya beat Lobo by a small margin in 2005 elections, in which 
participation was 55 percent.

The Organization of American States (OAS), which suspended Honduras 
after the coup but has been divided over the crisis, was meeting on 
Friday to consider a response to the elections.

-- 
Jake Johnston 
International Research Assistant
Center for Economic and Policy Research
1611 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-293-5380 Ext. 110
http://www.cepr.net/

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-- 

Alexander Main
International Outreach Associate
Center for Economic and Policy Research
1611 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009
202 293 5380 x123
202 588 1356 fax

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