*Honduras elections: Security key issue as Hernández runs again*
President Juan Orlando Hernández has governed Honduras since January 2014 and hopes that on Sunday voters will re-elect him for another four-year term. An incumbent running for re-election would not raise eyebrows in most other countries but it has caused consternation among some in Honduras. That is because until recently, the Honduras constitution limited presidents to a single term in office.
But in 2015, the country's supreme court lifted the ban on presidents serving a second term. The decision proved controversial, with many in the opposition saying the supreme court did not have the power to overturn an article of the constitution. It particularly rankled with the supporters of Manuel Zelaya, the former president who was forced into exile by the military in 2009 after he proposed holding a referendum on whether to scrap the ban on presidents running a second time.
Critics of President Hernández said it was unfair that he should "get away" with changing the constitution when the sheer proposal of a vote on the issue had cost Mr Zelaya his job just a few years earlier. Despite vociferous protests, Mr Hernández said he planned to seek re-election and in March his National Party chose him as their candidate in the party's primary.
President Juan Orlando Hernández has governed Honduras since January 2014 and hopes that on Sunday voters will re-elect him for another four-year term. An incumbent running for re-election would not raise eyebrows in most other countries but it has caused consternation among some in Honduras. That is because until recently, the Honduras constitution limited presidents to a single term in office.
But in 2015, the country's supreme court lifted the ban on presidents serving a second term. The decision proved controversial, with many in the opposition saying the supreme court did not have the power to overturn an article of the constitution. It particularly rankled with the supporters of Manuel Zelaya, the former president who was forced into exile by the military in 2009 after he proposed holding a referendum on whether to scrap the ban on presidents running a second time.
Critics of President Hernández said it was unfair that he should "get away" with changing the constitution when the sheer proposal of a vote on the issue had cost Mr Zelaya his job just a few years earlier. Despite vociferous protests, Mr Hernández said he planned to seek re-election and in March his National Party chose him as their candidate in the party's primary.
Comments
Post a Comment