Honduras' Court Strikes Down Presidential Term Limit, Allowing Juan Orlando Hernandez To Run For Re-Election

The Supreme Court of Honduras voided a constitutional article on Thursday that limited presidents to one term. The decision allows President Juan Orlando Hernandez to run for another term.

The issue of extending term limits is highly contentious in Honduras, where a previous attempt to do so by former president Manuel Zelaya ended in his overthrow by a coup in 2009.

"The resolution makes clear that no law may restrict the rights of Hondurans," Melvin Duarte, a spokesman for the court, told reporters, according to the Associated Press (AP).

The unanimous court decision was praised by former president Rafael Callejas, a member of the ruling party, who has expressed interest in running again, Reuters reported.

Hernandez, who was elected in 2013, has not indicated whether he intends to run for re-election in 2017.

The ruling was criticized by members of the opposition, who say the court pushed the measure to solidify the ruling party’s grip on power. "The ruling opens the way to a dictatorship that would permit Hernandez to stay in power," Salvador Nasralla, an unsuccessful presidential candidate from the Anti-Corruption Party, who ran in 2013, said, according to the AP.