Honduras hopes polls will offer exit to coup crisis
Posted: 26 November 2009 1021 hrs

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TEGUCIGALPA - Honduras holds presidential elections Sunday at the peak of a political crisis, with the constitutional president besieged in the Brazilian embassy and no leader ruling the country.

Neither Manuel Zelaya, the president deposed in a June 28 coup, nor Roberto Micheletti, who took over the helm of the Central American country but temporarily stepped down at midnight Tuesday, are standing in the polls.

But de facto leaders behind Zelaya's ouster hope the elections will turn a page on months of political turbulence, including several deaths and dozens of arrests under a military crackdown on dissent.

Zelaya has called on his supporters to boycott the vote, which he says will send a message of endorsement for the coup.

As fears of violent opposition to the elections grew, attackers fired an anti-tank missile toward the Supreme Court early Wednesday, and a pro-Micheletti TV station was also targeted, police told local radio.

The favorite among five presidential candidates is conservative hopeful Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, a member of the National Party, who came second to Zelaya in the 2005 election.

Polls place him ahead of his main rival, Elvin Santos, who is from the same right-wing Liberal Party as Zelaya and Micheletti.

Zelaya, a member of the country's ruling elite, swung to the left after taking office, under the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He was ousted in a dispute with the Congress, courts, business leaders and the army over his plans to change the constitution.

International aid freezes and condemnation followed the coup, but crisis talks dragged on for months.

"The election provides the most obvious possible exit to the stalemate," said Michael Shifter, policy vice president at the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank in Washington DC.

Most Latin American countries say polls without Zelaya in office will send a dangerous message that the coup was successful on a continent where memories of dictatorships are still fresh.

But the United States, the country's main business and military backer, has now suggested it will back the polls, even without Zelaya in office.

Panama and Peru are also due to support the elections, while regional heavyweights Brazil and Argentina are leading regional opposition to the vote.

"There is a critical mass of countries that are willing to consider recognizing the election. That's all Micheletti needs," Kevin Casas-Zamora, a Latin America expert from the Brookings Institution, told AFP.

International acceptance would be a "license to go back to politics as usual in Honduras as though nothing had happened," Casas-Zamora said.

"This is tragic for the country."

Zelaya supporters, including unionists, students and farm workers, have sought a boycott across the nation, as thousands of security forces have deployed to oversee the vote.

But Zelaya has so far been unable to drum up a significant resistance movement.

Observers say many of the 4.5 million eligible voters, worn out by months of tension and international isolation, may turn out to vote in a bid to end the crisis.

"My sense is that most Hondurans want to get on and want some path to get out of this hole that they've been in since the end of June," Shifter said.

The de facto leaders have attempted to disarm citizens ahead of the polls in a nation where violent gangs operate with weapons left over from decades of regional wars.

Until the current crisis, Honduras, a major banana and coffee exporter, prided itself on its relative stability in the region.

Sunday's voters will also elect three vice presidents, 128 Honduran lawmakers and 20 members of the Central American parliament, as well as mayors of 298 municipalities.

Polling stations are due to open at 1300 GMT and close at 0100 GMT Monday.

It was not yet clear who would hand over the presidency on January 27.

Micheletti has said he will return to the presidency on December 2, the day on which Congress is due to vote on Zelaya's return to office.

- AFP /ls