Honduras: Presidential candidate of minority party sees difficulty in forming electoral alliance

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Honduran congresswoman Doris Gutiérrez, of the minority Innovation and Unity-Social Democrat Party (Pinu-Sd), said Monday that she sees difficulty in forming an electoral alliance to remove the ruling National Party from power, due to personal ambitions of some sectors.

“Unfortunately we have fallen into the trap of individualism, of personalism, of protagonist attitudes, that is why we have not been able to put together a true opposition that is willing to give up whatever it takes to defeat this governing party,” emphasized Gutiérrez, one of two women who will seek the Presidency of Honduras in the general elections of November 28.

The other female candidate is Xiomara Castro, of the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted on June 28, 2009, seven months before the end of his four-year term.

Gutiérrez and Castro join presidential candidates Nasry Asfura, of the National Party; Yani Rosenthal, of the Liberal Party, and Salvador Nasralla, of the Salvador de Honduras Party.

NO AGREEMENTS FOR ALLIANCE 10 DAYS BEFORE ELECTIONS ARE CALLED.

After the primary and internal elections held by the three major parties, Nacional, Libre, and Liberal, analysts consider that an alliance of the opposition will be difficult due to the closed and personal positions of the candidates, who do not want to give in.

In this respect, Doris Gutiérrez said the day before that the Pinud-Sd aspires to make a wide coalition of all the opposition, which she also sees difficult because “there are many personal and party interests that in one way or another hinder.”

She added that she understands the position of those who want to be president because it is not easy to get rid of candidacy and everyone wants to be the main protagonist in the contest.

These are the reasons why “it has not been possible to create” a true opposition to defeat the party in government,”emphasized Gutiérrez, who has also been a councilman in the Mayor’s Office of Tegucigalpa and has been characterized by the accountability from the public positions he has held, something not practiced by all Honduran politicians.

Gutiérrez regretted that so far they are only talking about alliances at the level of municipal mayors and with civil society organizations, but not between political parties, in which there are also internal divisions, which makes more difficult a true political alliance to remove from power the ruling party, which has been in power for three consecutive terms.

Analysts do not rule out that, in the absence of an alliance, ten days before the call for the general elections in November, the National Party may win again, although with low popular support at the polls.

The Honduran congresswoman pointed out that with only a few days before the call for elections, the Pinu-Sd “is in the best disposition to form a broad, open coalition with society, citizens, organizations and other political parties.”

Gutiérrez considers that there are still options and that if a de jure union is not made, they will do it de facto because the important thing is to get the National Party out of power.

The opposition blames the Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who has been in office for two consecutive terms, the last one after irregular reelection, endorsed by the Supreme Court of Justice, for the social, political, and economic problems of the country.

Honduras has been dragging down by a political and social crisis since 2009, after the coup d’état against Manuel Zelaya, which included the reelection of Hernandez, even though the country’s Constitution does not allow reelection.

All this is worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic that the country has been suffering since March 2020 and the severe damage caused in November by tropical storms Eta and Iota.

Gutiérrez also indicated that this week “is crucial and definitive to give an answer to the Honduran people and not to keep them in the uncertainty that an alliance could or could not be made.”