Honduran Leader Says He’ll Briefly Step Down

MEXICO CITY — As the presidential election draws near in Honduras, the de facto leader, Roberto Micheletti, and the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, continued their political jockeying on Thursday, with Mr. Micheletti announcing that he would briefly cede power to increase the vote’s legitimacy and Mr. Zelaya insisting that the election be pushed back.

In announcing that he would hand over power to his cabinet ministers for a week beginning on Nov. 25, Mr. Micheletti made it clear that he had no plans to cede power to Mr. Zelaya, who was ousted from the presidency on June 28 in what much of the world has branded a coup.

“God bless Honduras,” said Mr. Micheletti, portraying the temporary ceding of power as a move to reconcile the divided country.

Still, Mr. Micheletti’s move fell short of what he and Mr. Zelaya agreed to in an accord struck in October with the help of the United States. The two leaders were to have set up a national unity government by Nov. 5 to administer the election. Mr. Zelaya has since pulled out of the deal.

Hondurans are scheduled to go to the polls on Nov. 29 to choose new leaders, and neither Mr. Micheletti nor Mr. Zelaya is on the ballot. The chief dispute between the men centers on which of them ought to serve as president until the next leader takes over on Jan. 27.

Fierce enemies from the same party, Mr. Micheletti and Mr. Zelaya agreed in their deal that the Congress would vote on whether Mr. Zelaya ought to be restored to the presidency.

Mr. Zelaya, who is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the capital, insists that the congressional vote on his return should be before the election.

The Congress recently said it would take up the matter on Dec. 2, three days after the new president is chosen and the same day that Mr. Micheletti had said he intended to return to power.

The United States government originally said that it would not recognize the Honduran election until Mr. Zelaya had been restored to power but has since loosened that position. An administration official said Thursday that the United States “welcomes” Mr. Micheletti’s move.

Tension between the men and their supporters remains high. Mr. Zelaya said on Thursday that he would begin a legal challenge to the election if it went ahead as planned. Mr. Micheletti, anticipating trouble from Zelaya partisans, vowed to immediately return to power if any threat to the nation emerged and “govern with vigor and firmness.”

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