18 November 2009
Delayed Honduran Vote on Zelaya Not Counter to Accord, U.S. Says
Washington — The United States continues to believe that the restoration of President Manuel Zelaya to power in Honduras should occur to promote political reconciliation, but says the Honduran Congress’ action to delay a decision on the matter until after the country’s November 28 presidential election does not violate a recent accord between Zelaya and the interim head of the de facto Honduran government, Roberto Micheletti.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said November 18 that the October 30 agreement calls on the country’s Congress to issue a pronouncement on whether Zelaya should return. However, it “never stipulated a timetable for the congressional action,” he said.
The Obama administration continues to recognize Zelaya as the democratically elected president of the country. Zelaya was ousted in a June 28 coup and replaced by a government headed by Micheletti. The United States supported efforts by the Organization of American States to broker a solution to the political crisis. This led ultimately to the October 30 agreement, which the United States welcomed as a “big step forward” for the region. (See “Honduras Agreement Important Example for Latin American Democracy.”)
Since then, Kelly said, the Obama administration has called on the Honduran Congress to “act expeditiously in the spirit of the accord,” saying that its implementation “will enhance the prospects for transparent, free and open elections that will ultimately resolve this crisis and allow Honduras to rejoin the international community of nations.”
The Honduran elections are scheduled to occur before the December 2 vote in the Congress on Zelaya’s restitution. Kelly said Zelaya is not running for re-election and his term of office will expire at the end of January 2010.
“Scheduling the vote on December 2 … isn't necessarily inconsistent with the accord,” Kelly said.
However, “it has been a very strong principle of ours that in order for the country to be reconciled, there has to be a restoration of the democratically elected president,” he said. “That implies that he has to be restored before the end of his term.”
Asked if the United States will consider the results of the November 28 election to be legitimate, the spokesman said: “It all depends on how the vote is conducted. It depends on how the campaign is conducted. I mean, we will decide how to pronounce on the election when we see how it is conducted.”
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Craig Kelly has been in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa to “help support implementation of the accord” and to “make sure it’s done step by step,” Kelly said. “He's met with President Zelaya, and he met with the de facto leader, Mr. Micheletti. He told us that these were very frank and open talks.”
