Honduran lawmakers put off vote on Zelaya's return

By Mario Naranjo and Fiona Ortiz

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran lawmakers on Tuesday put off a vote on whether to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya and asked the Supreme Court for its view, bucking outside pressure to quickly end a four-month political crisis.

Their inaction leaves the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti in place and risks losing international support for a November 29 presidential election, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to the poor coffee- and textile-producing nation.

A board of 13 top lawmakers met and decided not to call a special session of Congress, currently in recess, until they receive non-binding opinions from the Supreme Court and the attorney general.

No timeline was established for a vote, throwing fresh uncertainty over the implementation of a U.S.-brokered deal signed last week to end the worst political upheaval in two decades in Central America.

"The majority voted to send the matter to the Supreme Court, but there were votes against that idea, from those who want to immediately vote on Zelaya's restitution," congressman Marvin Ponce of the Democratic Unification Party told Reuters.

The deal signed by negotiators for Zelaya and Micheletti says Congress must decide whether Zelaya, toppled in a June 28 coup, can return to serve out the rest of his term until January, but it sets no date for the legislature to vote.

Zelaya says he must be returned this week to comply with the deal. But the de facto government says the agreement could be fulfilled even without Zelaya's reinstatement.

Outside the legislature, police in riot gear stood by as supporters of Zelaya, known as "Mel," chanted, "Hang in there Mel, the people are rising up."

Washington has praised the deal as a major breakthrough even as it remains unclear if it will lead to Zelaya's return.

Chilean ex-President Ricardo Lagos and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis were in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday to lead a commission of the Organization of American States, or OAS, to oversee fulfillment of the accords.

"What we are trying to implement is an agreement that means that President Zelaya has to be returned to power and at the same time to make sure that the elections, the presidential elections, are going to be fulfilled in a democratic way on November 29," Lagos told reporters.

COSTLY ISOLATION

After the coup, Honduras was cut off diplomatically. The United States, the European Union and lenders suspended aid. The country this year planned on receiving foreign aid worth some 3.4 percent of gross domestic product, according to FOSDEH, a Honduran think tank.

Some experts said Congress could stall for some time by arguing it is waiting for a Supreme Court view, even though the agreement itself asked the court for a non-binding ruling.

"The accord is not at all favorable for Zelaya. It does not assure his restitution and it sets no date," said Luis Cosenza, presidency minister for former President Ricardo Maduro.