US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA1541

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