Electoral Law Reform Adopted; 2005 Primary

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001541

SIPDIS

STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID, ALSO FOR WHA AND WHA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HO
SUBJECT: Electoral Law Reform Adopted; 2005 Primary
Elections Calendar Released


1. On June 21, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal
Supremo Electoral TSE) - established for the purpose of
directing the electoral process and internal elections -
approved the calendar for the 2005 primary and internal
elections in Honduras. According to the Calendar, starting
August 20, 2004, political parties will have 102 days for
the enrollment of candidates and primary election platforms
for the 2005 popular election, with a deadline of November
30, 2004. Primary elections will take place on February 20,

2005. Positions for election include president, vice
president, 128 representatives and alternates to the
National Congress, and 298 mayoral municipalities. There
will not be an election of representatives to the Central
American parliament.


2. This election will be the first to carry out procedures
put in place by the new Electoral Law, adopted in January

2004. After much discussion and debate in the National
Congress, all 277 articles of the law were entered into
effect on April 1, 2004. Conflict over the law arose in May
when Liberals accused the Deputies of the Style Commission -
in charge of making editorial corrections to the law, after
it is approved in content - of making content changes. Some
members of the National Congress told the Honduran press
that the commission modified articles regarding the release
of poll results. The approved version stated that poll
results would NOT be permitted for publication 50 days prior
to the primaries and 90 days before the general election.
The modification stated reporting would be allowed during
this period. The language change was caught and reverted
before it went to the floor.


3. There are several important components to the Electoral
Law. The new law limits campaigns to four months and a
political candidate can run for one political position only.
A political movement has to have two percent of valid voter
signatures in order to register, otherwise it will be
dissolved. A quota for no less than 30 percent
participation of women officeholders was established. An
office of Vice President was created and the current system
of 3 presidential designates was eliminated. This change
will make the VP more visible in the campaign. Honduran
voters abroad will be able to vote, but only to elect
President and Vice President in general elections.


4. Another reform established that all private campaign
donations must be registered in the individual parties'
accounting registers. Donations that surpass roughly USD
16,500 must separately be reported to the TSE and the funds
deposited in banking institutions, which will then be at the
disposal of the party authorities that manage the party's
statutes or rules.


5. Proportional representation was abolished for primary
elections and voters will now be able to vote directly for
congressional candidates in their party's primary.
Moreover, in the next elections, voters will select
candidates based not only on their names but also on their
photographs, a process without precedent in Honduras.
Congressional seats will still be assigned by the total
proportional vote each party receives. Those candidates who
win the most votes will still be the first elected. However,
there exists the possibility that a candidate from a small
party could be elected with fewer votes than a lower ranking
candidate in a major party. In party primaries, winners
will be selected strictly in accordance with the number of
votes they receive.


6. The new law prohibits political advertising until 50 days
before the election. However, it seems that abuses are
already being made on both sides. In June, the TSE
suggested it would investigate the content of and source of
funding for political messages in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro
Sula, specifically looking at the campaigns of Porfirio Lobo
Sosa, President of the Congress and presidential primary
candidate in the National Party, as well as the mayor of
Tegucigalpa Miguel Pastor, Liberals Jaime Rosenthal Liva,
and Manuel Zelaya Rosales. Currently, the TSE has been
calling a number of politicians running in a variety of
capacities to alert them to their infringement upon the
propaganda law.


7. Aside from ensuring that candidates obey the new campaign
laws, the TSE is also looking into an organized effort to
falsify National Identity documents, especially at the
National Registry of Persons (Registrario Nacional de
Personas RNP). The RNP is setting up the procedural aspects
for the emission of identification cards. The RNP began a
bidding process for the company that would produce the
cards, and finally settled on the IAFIS-SAGEM company that
is a subsidiary of GBN (a subsidiary of IBM) - the company
that was contracted for the last election and caused several
problems (due mostly to technical problems, i.e. machines
did not get adequate maintenance and people were not
adequately trained). As a result, there are roughly 600
thousand ID cards that remain unaccounted for in the country
(according to some, the number is over 1 million). This is
especially problematic as the identification card is the
only documentation necessary for voting. For this election,
IAFIS-SAGEM will not only have to document new voters, but
do something to solve the issue of the floating
identification cards. However, the company is currently
being audited and, during the transition process, employees
have gone on strike leaving the identification process at a
standstill.

PALMER