The victory of November 18 could be a sign of respect for the result of the upcoming elections to be held next year in Honduras. Hence, some of the recent moves of Porfirio Lobo’s administration, such as removing four of the five members of the Supreme Court of Justice, said leader of La Via Campesina Rafael Alegria, in a phone interview.

On Wednesday early morning the military was surrounding the Honduran Congress by order of the Executive after the Parliament dismissed four justices of the Constitutional Room of the Supreme Court of Justice.

According to Telesur’s website, the dismissmal of justices José Antonio Gutiérrez Navas (chief justice), Gustavo Enrique Bustillo Palma, Rosalinda Cruz Sequeira and José Francisco Ruiz Gaekel was due to their admission of an amparo appeal against the “proof of trust” made to Honduran police officers in the restructuring of the national police. The speaker of the National Congress, Juan Orlando Hernandez, opened the session at around 1.30am expressing his concern over the Supreme Court’s decision.

The measure would have no constitutional support and it would imply a “political-technical” coup on the independence of the judiciary that casts a shadow of doubt over the transparency of the next presidential elections, according to Rafael Alegria’s assessment.

“The current speaker of Congress aims to control the Supreme Court that has declared several government measures to be unconstitutional”, said Alegria, who described the situation as “delicate because the oligarchy in power is taking actions to expand its voters for the elections.

Photo: Honduras President, Porfirio Lobo with Senate speaker, Juan Orlando Hernández (Univision.com)