Honduras - presidential election

Honduras heads to the polls amid state of insecurity

Article published on the 2009-11-29 Latest update 2009-11-29 11:51 TU

Police will be out in strength on Sunday to ensure a fair election
(Photo: Reuters)

The people in Honduras are heading to the polls on Sunday to vote for a new president. The country has been in lockdown since the incumbent President Manuel Zelaya was forced out of power in June.

Security is expected to be tight for the election with some 30,000 soldiers and police on duty, supposedly to prevent any intimidation of voters.

Many people fear violence following a heavy-handed crackdown on Zelaya supporters since the coup, and recent bomb attacks.

De facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who has stepped down briefly for the electoral period, on Saturday accused backers of Zelaya – who has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy since September in Tegucigalpa - of secretly setting up bombs to disturb the polls.

Zelaya supporters have called for people to stay at home in a boycott and to avoid being blamed for possible clashes.

Rights groups have meanwhile complained of an environment of intimidation and fear. They condemned several deaths and dozens of arrests in the aftermath of the coup.

The United States, which froze millions of dollars of aid and condemned the coup, has decided to back the polls, to the disappointment of many in Latin America, particularly powerhouse Brazil.

Costa Rica, which mediated initial crisis talks, Panama and Peru have also suggested they will back the elections.

The two favorites are from conservative parties which have traded leadership of Honduras for years, and have close ties to the powerful military.

The frontrunner is 61-year-old Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, from the National Party, who narrowly lost to Zelaya in 2005.

Elvin Santos, a 46-year-old civil engineer in second place in pre-poll surveys, was previously Zelaya's vice president in the divided Liberal Party.