jillio
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I was the one that bumped the thread...?
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I was the one that bumped the thread...?
Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system.
Voting ends in Honduras election
Polls have closed in the presidential election in Honduras after voting was extended for an hour to allow large numbers of people to cast ballots.
The poll comes five months after a political crisis ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
He was forced from Honduras at gunpoint in June, and replaced by Roberto Micheletti. Neither are candidates.
The favourite to win is conservative Porfirio Lobo, with liberal Elvin Santos considered his nearest rival.
Mr Zelaya had called for a boycott of the election, saying high abstention levels would discredit the government of the interim president.
Mr Lobo, 61, narrowly lost to Mr Zelaya in 2005, and Mr Santos, 46, was previously Mr Zelaya's vice president in the divided Liberal Party.
About 30,000 soldiers and police provided security for the elections, but many fear violence could erupt.
AT THE SCENE
Stephen Gibbs, BBC, Tegucigalpa Within hours of the polls opening, the main pro-government television station was already declaring this election a success, announcing that there had been no reports of any violence and that people were voting in large numbers. The legitimacy of the election will be judged partly on voter turnout; the ousted President Zelaya has declared abstention the best form of protest.
In the last presidential election, 56% of the eligible population cast their vote. This morning in the capital, I saw steady streams of people drifting into polling stations. But there was no evidence of large crowds. Security is relatively discreet, with just a few soldiers on the streets outside the voting areas.
The political crisis and election have divided the region, with the US indicating it would endorse the result if the elections are deemed "free and fair".
Costa Rica, which has long been the mediator between the two sides in this crisis, has said likewise, but other Latin American countries have opposed the vote.
Argentina and Brazil have said they will not recognise any government installed after the election, arguing that to do so would legitimise the coup which ousted an elected president, and thus set a dangerous precedent.
The main regional grouping, the Organisation of American States, has declined to send an observer mission.
BBC correspondent Stephen Gibbs in the capital Tegucigalpa says that while supporters of Mr Zelaya are watching events with dismay, many Hondurans are expressing optimism that an end to the country's political crisis is in sight.
Congress is due to vote on Mr Zelaya's reinstatement on 2 December. His term ends on 27 January.
Mr Micheletti temporarily stepped down from office - for a week until 2 December - to allow the elections to proceed "peacefully and transparently", his spokesman said.
Mr Zelaya was forced into exile on 28 June after trying to hold a vote on whether a constituent assembly should be set up to look at rewriting the constitution.
His critics said the vote, which was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, aimed to remove the current one-term limit on serving as president and pave the way for his possible re-election.
Mr Zelaya has repeatedly denied this and some commentators say it would have been impossible to change the constitution before his term in office was up.
He sneaked back into the country in September and has been living in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.
Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC News - Honduras voting stations close in presidential poll
Nice bit of red herring and nothing to do with the actual topic thread. Not to mention a bit of paranoia in the mix as well.
According to research done by the Law Library of Congress issued a report concluding that Zelaya was removed from office through legal and constitutional measures. He attempted to subvert the Honduran constitution for his own personal gains. This is an example of going against the ideals of Democracy.
Hondurans Pick a Leader to End Limbo - WSJ.comA conservative rancher named Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo took the Honduran presidency in elections Sunday, five months after the country’s last elected president was forced out of the country at gunpoint. Now Hondurans must wait to see if the international community, which has been divided over the crisis, accepts the winner as legitimate.
The results gave Mr. Lobo 56% of the vote, well ahead of Liberal Party candidate Elvin Santos at 38%, confirming voters’ expected punishment of the Liberals — party of both the deposed president and the interim government that ousted him.
While the small Central American nation is expected to get crucial support from the U.S., it will likely continue to face opposition from regional heavyweights such as Brazil and Argentina. The U.S., in agreeing to accept the winner, is now in a delicate position — with Brazil, for example, which is housing exiled leader Manuel Zelaya in its Honduran embassy and recognizes him as president.
Only the U.S., Costa Rica and Panama have said they will accept the winner, though other countries, including Mexico and Canada, appear to be leaning that way as well. The government is betting that U.S. recognition will lead other nations to back down from earlier positions. “They may not recognize the elections Sunday itself, but I believe they will at some point in the future,” Mr. Lobo said Saturday.
Nice bit of red herring and nothing to do with the actual topic thread. Not to mention a bit of paranoia in the mix as well.
According to research done by the Law Library of Congress issued a report concluding that Zelaya was removed from office through legal and constitutional measures. He attempted to subvert the Honduran constitution for his own personal gains. This is an example of going against the ideals of Democracy.
Silly rabbit....tricks are fo rkids.
Ya see....you think in your mind that if you just say something is fact...then it becomes fact.
Take a reality pill.
Congress to debate Zelaya return
Congress in Honduras is due to debate whether ousted President Manuel Zelaya should be restored to office to serve out his term which ends in January.
Mr Zelaya, who was ousted in June, has told the BBC that he will refuse reinstatement because he does not want "to legitimise a coup".
Conservative politician Porfirio Lobo won Sunday's presidential elections, which were condemned by Mr Zelaya.
Regional reaction to the election has been split.
"We can't pretend nothing happened," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday.
"If this state of affairs is allowed to remain, democracy will be at serious risk in Latin and Central America," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
As well as Brazil, several other nations, including Argentina and Venezuela, have refused to recognise the vote, arguing it was held under an illegitimate government.
The US cautiously welcomed the polls, and Peru, Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica also voiced their support.
'Honduran reality'
On Monday, Mr Zelaya said the election of Mr Lobo as the next president had served only to intensify the political crisis.
Speaking to BBC Mundo from inside the Brazilian embassy where he took refuge in September, he said: "Will the elections change the military leadership that conducted the coup that ousted me? It remains the same. Will the elections change the composition of the Supreme Court that issued an arrest warrant [against me] without due cause? It remains the same," Mr Zelaya said.
Mr Lobo, who lost to Mr Zelaya in the 2005 election, has pledged to form a unity government and seek dialogue.
Mr Lobo, who is due to take office on 27 January, also urged the international community to "understand the Honduran reality and stop punishing the country".
Mr Zelaya was forced into exile on 28 June after trying to hold a vote on whether a constituent assembly should be set up to look at rewriting the constitution.
His critics said the vote, which was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, aimed to remove the current one-term limit on serving as president and pave the way for his possible re-election.
Mr Zelaya has repeatedly denied this and pointed out that it would have been impossible to change the constitution before his term in office was up.
Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC News - Honduran Congress to discuss Zelaya's reinstatement
Published: 2009/12/02 17:29:21 GMT