Backgrounder: Major Events in Honduras' Political Crisis

By Alejandra de palcio, Zhou Jianxin

Honduras holds elections on Sunday amid a political crisis caused by a June 28 coup that toppled then-President Manuel Zelaya, who is currently in hiding at the Brazilian embassy in the capital Tegucigalpa.

The conflict began on March 24, when Zelaya announced a plan to hold what he called a non-binding referendum on June 28 to ask voters if they would like to hold another referendum alongside November's presidential elections on whether to revise the constitution to allow a president to run for a second term.

On May 20, the leader of Congress said the referendum was a stunt to allow Zelaya to seek re-election. This was banned by Honduras' current constitution.

On June 24, Zelaya dismissed the country's army chief Romeo Vazquez as he refused to mobilize armed forces to help distribute referendum ballot boxes.

On June 28, the day of the planned referendum, Zelaya was seized in the presidential palace by a group of soldiers and forced onto a plane bound for Costa Rica. Former legislature leader Roberto Micheletti became acting president.

Many countries and international organizations immediately condemned the coup, and a series of street protests broke out in Honduras. UN General Assembly approved a resolution asking all its 192 members to recognize Zelaya's government only.

On June 30, the European Union, its 27 member nations and Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela all withdrew their ambassadors from Honduras.

On July 24, Zelaya briefly crossed into Honduras for a couple of hours, hoping to meet with his family and asking to speak with senior military officers. He retreated to the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal after his demand was refused.

On Aug. 24, the OAS' mission of foreign ministers from Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, as well as OAS Secretary General Miguel Insulza as observer, arrived in Tegucigalpa to try to solve the political crisis in Honduras.

On Sep. 21, Zelaya surprised the world when he entered Honduras without advice and has been staying in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since.

In October, officials representing Zelaya and Michelleti signed the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement aimed to end the politic crisis, which included provisions for a government of national unity and Zelaya��s restoration to the presidency, providing Hondura's legislature approves.

On Oct. 30 the legislature did not decide on Zelaya's restitution, so Zelaya said he considered that the de facto government broke the agreement.The legislature has promised to decide on Dec. 2, three days after polling.

Last week, 92 candidates resigned in protest against the political crisis in the country, making a total of 170 candidates who resigned, according to the Electoral Supreme Tribunal (TSE).

The elections have been criticized by the international community despite these were called before the coup. Critics say that going ahead with the vote offers support to regimes that take power via coups. The international community considers that Zelaya's restitution in power is necessary before Honduras holds any elections.

Zelaya and his followers say the elections are illegitimate and Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela are among the many Latin American nations that refused to recognize the outcome. Supporters of the coup consider that the elections will be a solution to this crisis. Canada, the United States, Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru have said they will recognize the outcome of the elections.

The government of Micheletti has sought legitimacy by inviting 350 independent international observers to be present during the process.

Only two candidates have chance to win the elections: Porfirio Lobo from the National Party of Honduras (PNH) with 37 percent of the voting intentions and Elvin Santos, of the Liberal Party (PL) with 21 percent of intentions.

Neither Lobo nor Santos nor their parties have given an opinion on Zelaya's restitution to power, and both have argued that the elections are legitimate, on the grounds that they were called before the coup.

Some 4.6 million Hondurans are entitled to vote in the Nov. 29 election

which chooses a new president, three vice presidents, 128 deputies for the National Congress legislature, 20 Central American Parliament deputies and 298 mayors. There are 5,260 voting centers across all the country, each of which will be guarded by two soldiers.

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