MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Majority of Hondurans want presidential election to go ahead to end crisis

Thomas Shannon arrived in Tegucigalpa to attempt a settlement before the November election

A majority of Hondurans support the proposal that both ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the head of the de facto government Roberto Micheletti should step down in favour of a caretaker president, thus keeping to the political calendar which schedules presidential elections for November 29th.

According to a public opinion poll published in Tegucigalpa’s La Prensa, 63% of interviews said that they would like to see Mr. Zelaya and Mr. Micheletti resign to their posts and name a third person to rule the country during the presidential election and hand over the presidential sash in January to whoever is legitimately and democratically elected.

The CID-Gallup also showed that 34% reject such an option to end the current institutional crisis that has left the Central American country virtually isolated internationally and increasingly in economic disarray.

The poll was released when three US diplomats arrived in Honduras Wednesday to help negotiate a quick settlement. Included in the delegation is Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon.

Roberto Micheletti said Tuesday that dialogue between his faction and supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya is “not going to fix anything” before the November 29 ballot. Many governments, including the US, are urging that the democratically elected Zelaya be restored to the presidency to serve out his term, which ends in January.

Zelaya was ousted by the army June 28 after he defied Supreme Court orders to cancel a mock referendum on rewriting the constitution. He is at the Brazilian Embassy, where he took refuge after sneaking back into Honduras on Sept. 21 from his forced exile.

“We should return to a society of laws and restore the power of the State” said Zelaya Wednesday on Radio Globo from the Brazilian Embassy. “Putting me in the presidency again is symbolic because what the people want is that we respect a State of laws.”

The US officials are expected to meet with both Micheletti and Zelaya urging both sides in the crisis to show flexibility and redouble efforts to end the stalemate.

State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to both principals in the crisis Friday.

He said the situation needs to be resolved quickly, in line with settlement guidelines put forth by the Organization of American States. Kelly said failure to do so could threaten the legitimacy of presidential elections planned for late November.