NATIONAL CONGRESS CHOOSES PROVISIONAL EXECUTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000058 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM HO SUBJECT: NATIONAL CONGRESS CHOOSES PROVISIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD REF: A. 09 TEGUCIGALPA 1320 ¶B. 09 TEGUCIGALPA 1311 ¶1. (U) Summary: The members of the National Congress elected in the November 29, 2009 election met on January 21 and elected by a show of hands Juan Orlando Hernandez of president-elect Lobo's National party as their President. Hernandez along with Reinaldo Sanchez as Vice President and Gladys Aurora Lopez as Secretary (both of the National Party) make up the provisional Executive Board of the National Congress until the Executive Board officially takes office on January 23. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) distributed credentials on January 21 to president-elect Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo and the members of Congress elected in the November 29, 2009 general election. TSE Secretary Enrique Ortez said the TSE had carried out the elections by itself without assistance and that it was the most transparent electoral process in the history of Honduras. ¶3. (U) The National Party, which holds the majority in the new Congress, by consensus decided the morning of January 21 that Juan Orlando Hernandez would be its candidate for the Presidency of the Congress (reftel B). The new Congress met the afternoon of January 21 to elect the provisional Executive Board that will lead the Congress until the Executive Board officially takes office on January 23. The congressional session was presided over by the de facto regime's Minister of Governance and Justice Oscar Raul Matute. National Party congressman Rigoberto Chang introduced a motion to constitute a provisional Executive Board composed of Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party who represents the department of Lempira as President, Reinaldo Sanchez of the National Party who represents the department of Olancho as Vice President, and Gladys Aurora Lopez of the National Party who represents the department of La Paz as Secretary. The motion was passed by a show of hands. Matute administered the oath of office to the three members of the provisional Executive Board on the floor of the Congress and the session was adjourned. ¶4. (SBU) BIO INFORMATION: Juan Orlando Hernandez was reelected for his fourth consecutive term as a member of Congress representing the department of Lempira in the 2009 general election. He is the Secretary General of the National Party. According to final results announced by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Hernandez earned the greatest amount of votes among congressional candidates from the department of Lempira in the 2009 general election. During his tenure in Congress from 2006 to 2010, he was the president of the second budget commission and the secretary of the first budget commission. He also served as a member of the telecommunications commission, the legislative proceedings commission, as well as the market control commission. He served as first secretary of Congress from 2002 to 2006. Hernandez was first elected to Congress in the 1998 general election. Hernandez reportedly maintained excellent relations with former President of Honduras Ricardo Maduro (2002-2006) and his administration. He has consistently supported US interests, and has been an ally of the president-elect since Lobo's initial bid for the presidency in the 2005 general election. Since 1995, Hernandez has practiced law with the Hernandez Garcia and Associates firm. He joined the law faculty at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) in 1998 and he was confirmed as a public notary by the Supreme Court of Justice in 1999. He gained political experience in Congress as an assistant to the first vice president from 1992 to 1994 and to the first secretary from 1990 to 1992. In 1991, he held the honorary title of Director of the National Youth Council, the congressional youth organization. Hernandez was born on October 28, 1968 in the department of Intibuca. He completed his undergraduate studies in judicial and social sciences in 1990 at UNAH, where he was the president of the Association of Law Students. He received a Master's degree in public administration from the State University of New York in Albany in 1995. Hernandez is one of 17 children. Two of his brothers have held political posts, as the head of the Merchant Marine Agency and the Deputy Attorney General respectively. Another brother was a Colonel in the Honduran TEGUCIGALP 00000058 002 OF 002 Armed Forces who was paralyzed in a parachute accident as part of a joint military exercise; he received extensive medical treatment at US Army hospitals. Hernandez is married, has four children, and speaks English fluently. HENSHAW