MPs yell “traitors”
Fists are flying in Honduras’ parliament
1/22/2022, 4:58 p.m
After the presidential elections in Honduras, the winner Xiomara Castro is dependent on a coalition partner. However, members of her own party are apparently not sticking to agreements between the two parties. The situation escalates at a parliamentary session
Fists flying in the Honduran parliament: There was violent tumult at the swearing-in of the provisional speaker of the parliament, Jorge Calix, in the congress in Tegucigalpa. MPs from the party of new President-elect Xiomara Castro took to the podium on Friday (local time) when he was sworn in, calling him a “traitor”. Under a hail of punches and shoves, Calix fled.
It was the first session of parliament since the November election, which Castro won from the left-wing Libre party. She is to be officially installed next week, as will the speaker of the parliament. A dispute preceded the riots. 20 renegade Libre MPs had surprisingly proposed their comrade-in-arms Calix as interim parliamentary president, while other Libre MPs saw this as a violation of a pact with their coalition partner.
Castro is the first woman to hold the highest office in the Latin American country. Their victory was only possible through an alliance with the PSH party, which was promised the post of President of the Parliament. During the election campaign, Castro promised to take action against corruption and organized crime in Honduras.