http://www.democracyandsociety.com/blog/2009/11/29/grumble-and-get-on-with-it-oas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grumble-and-get-on-with-it-oas Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:09:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.democracyandsociety.com/blog/2009/11/29/grumble-and-get-on-with-it-oas/comment-page-1/#comment-293 Lindsay Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:01:43 +0000 http://www.democracyandsociety.com/blog/?p=623#comment-293 The government might have silenced some of the voices of opposition, and I certainly don't defend them for doing that. But we recognize elections in other countries with a lot worse (although I will withhold final judgment until I see some election observation reports, because my knowledge of the situation is admittedly sparse). I think the point is that the constitution had no good provision for what to do with Zelaya and the Congress and court made a decision on their own on what to do with him since they had no real guidance. Perhaps this has all been handled badly, but Zelaya isn't the good guy here -- he behaved unconstitutionally himself. And the election was run fairly enough so that the opposition won. Turnover for me is a pretty fair indicator of letting the voice of the people be heard, since the opposition wasn't in any position to rig the election. I think it's up to the new government now to address the constitutional issues -- but it's the new government and not Zelaya's that needs to be in power doing it. The government might have silenced some of the voices of opposition, and I certainly don’t defend them for doing that. But we recognize elections in other countries with a lot worse (although I will withhold final judgment until I see some election observation reports, because my knowledge of the situation is admittedly sparse). I think the point is that the constitution had no good provision for what to do with Zelaya and the Congress and court made a decision on their own on what to do with him since they had no real guidance. Perhaps this has all been handled badly, but Zelaya isn’t the good guy here — he behaved unconstitutionally himself. And the election was run fairly enough so that the opposition won. Turnover for me is a pretty fair indicator of letting the voice of the people be heard, since the opposition wasn’t in any position to rig the election. I think it’s up to the new government now to address the constitutional issues — but it’s the new government and not Zelaya’s that needs to be in power doing it.

]]> http://www.democracyandsociety.com/blog/2009/11/29/grumble-and-get-on-with-it-oas/comment-page-1/#comment-288 Barak Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:23:00 +0000 http://www.democracyandsociety.com/blog/?p=623#comment-288 I am not sure I agree with you, Lindsay. The government did not allow anything close to a free and fair election, and it is still far from clear that the Supreme Court and Congress had any legal justification for asking the military to depose Zelaya. I am not sure I agree with you, Lindsay. The government did not allow anything close to a free and fair election, and it is still far from clear that the Supreme Court and Congress had any legal justification for asking the military to depose Zelaya.

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