Honduras approves impeachment

The Honduran Congress has given the green light to a constitutional reform, which allows the impeachment of senior government officials, including the president, who can be removed in the event of a serious failure in the performance of their duties.

The reform, which includes updates to several articles of the Constitution, was approved last week.

Impeachment could help to avoid a situation, such as the 2009 coup against then-president Manuel Zelaya.

Under the new rules, impeachment procedures can be started against an official, in the case of abuse of authority, violation of the Constitution, gross negligence or incompetence in the discharge of official duties, said Deputy Vice president of the Congress, Marvin Ponce.

The President of Honduras can only be removed by a vote of three-quarters of the deputies.

In other cases, a two-thirds vote would be enough to dismiss a public official.