Honduras's new political direction on the horizon

Honduran parliament approved internal Elections for November 16, 2008. They were originally scheduled for Feb 2009, the change was due to the pending election of the new Supreme Court.

The change of internal election dates, is part of a controversial reform of the Electoral Act passed by Honduran Congress. The Reform, already vetoed once by President Zelaya, and approved 2 days later by Congress, states that primary elections can changed from Feb. 9 2009 to Nov. 16. 2008.

Other implications of this reform are:

1. It makes the present government give 50 Million Dollars to 5 established Honduran political parties. (1.5% of the countries budget!)
2. According to Michelleti, (Chairman of the National Congress, who has also expressed his interest in becoming President of Honduras ), "the only thing we seek is to neutralize any possibility of organized crime or drug cartels financing politicians, because they could create chaos in Honduras."
3. The new law eliminated the so-called "debt policy" ("Politica de Deuda") implemented for 25 years and through which the government paid one dollar to the parties for every vote in its favor, in the elections. That generated about $ 5 million. (Supposing 5,000,000 Hondurans voted. 2005 Elections brought up an total of 3.9 million voters)
   

The reform was promoted and adopted by Liberal party ("Partido Liberal", in power), and the National Party, the other major political Party in Honduras.

The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, is not too happy with the change, basically because the political excitement and media bonanza that comes with political elections will strongly distract attention from his agenda and affect the efficiency of his last days of term, and with that the continuity of his national plan.