Monday, November 30, 2009 12:11:32 AM
Honduras elects conservative president Porfirio Lobo
Perhaps Willi Walker history first?.. paving replies, pummel to here.
Porfirio Lobo was considered a front
runner for president
Several exit polls in the Honduran presidential election show that National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo has won.
The scheduled poll was held five months after President Manuel Zelaya
was forced from the country at gunpoint, with an interim government taking over.
Although many members of the interim government belong to the Liberal party, they are expected to welcome his win.
Insert: Liberal politician says no sympathy "I don't think it's in the national interest," says Porfirio Lobo, the candidate of the conservative National Party who holds a double-digit lead in recent polls. And asked Saturday if Mr. Zelaya's ouster was a coup, Liberal Party Candidate Elvin Santos said: "It can't be qualified that way." He offered little sympathy for the ousted president, a member of his own party who remains holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in the capital.
Mr Lobo, a wealthy landowner, is seen as a unifying figure.
Official results have not yet been released, but exit polls showed he had 56% of the vote,
and his nearest rival Elvin Santos had 38%, according to Channel 5 television and HRN radio.
Two other exit polls also had Mr Lobo ahead by more than 10 percentage points, Reuters news agency reported.
The president-elect will also have the challenge of mending relations with the outside world.
The US has indicated that it will accept the results, but many Latin
American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, say they will not.
The Honduran government has tried to portray this election as a nationwide demonstration
that the country is on a democratic path, after five months of political crisis.
Mr Zelaya, who has been living in the Brazilian embassy in the capital Tegucigalpa since he secretly returned to the
country in September, described the vote to elect his replacement as a "fraud" and called on his supporters to abstain.
During the days vote, several hundred protesters against the election gathered in the City of San Pedro Sur.
They were dispersed by security forces using tear gas.
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.
Congress is due to vote on Mr Zelaya's reinstatement on 2 December. His term ends on 27 January.
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.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8384874.stm
Perhaps Willi Walker history first?.. paving replies, pummel to here.
Porfirio Lobo was considered a front
runner for president
Several exit polls in the Honduran presidential election show that National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo has won.
The scheduled poll was held five months after President Manuel Zelaya
was forced from the country at gunpoint, with an interim government taking over.
Although many members of the interim government belong to the Liberal party, they are expected to welcome his win.
Insert: Liberal politician says no sympathy "I don't think it's in the national interest," says Porfirio Lobo, the candidate of the conservative National Party who holds a double-digit lead in recent polls. And asked Saturday if Mr. Zelaya's ouster was a coup, Liberal Party Candidate Elvin Santos said: "It can't be qualified that way." He offered little sympathy for the ousted president, a member of his own party who remains holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in the capital.
Mr Lobo, a wealthy landowner, is seen as a unifying figure.
Official results have not yet been released, but exit polls showed he had 56% of the vote,
and his nearest rival Elvin Santos had 38%, according to Channel 5 television and HRN radio.
Two other exit polls also had Mr Lobo ahead by more than 10 percentage points, Reuters news agency reported.
The president-elect will also have the challenge of mending relations with the outside world.
The US has indicated that it will accept the results, but many Latin
American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, say they will not.
The Honduran government has tried to portray this election as a nationwide demonstration
that the country is on a democratic path, after five months of political crisis.
Mr Zelaya, who has been living in the Brazilian embassy in the capital Tegucigalpa since he secretly returned to the
country in September, described the vote to elect his replacement as a "fraud" and called on his supporters to abstain.
During the days vote, several hundred protesters against the election gathered in the City of San Pedro Sur.
They were dispersed by security forces using tear gas.
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.
Congress is due to vote on Mr Zelaya's reinstatement on 2 December. His term ends on 27 January.
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.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8384874.stm
Jonathan Swift said, "May you live all the days of your life!"
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