US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA2635

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, AND DRL/PHD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CEN AND DCHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, HO 
SUBJECT:  2005 HONDURAN PRIMARY ELECTIONS - RULES OF THE GAME 
 
REF: Tegucigalpa 1541 
 
1. Summary.  Honduran primary elections are scheduled for 
February 20, 2005, with general elections set for November 
27, 2005.  Under a new Electoral law reform passed early in 
2004, Honduran voters will be able to select candidates for 
the National Congress in the 2005 elections based not only on 
their names but also on their photographs, a process without 
precedent in Honduras (reftel).  This new method for the 
direct election of congressional members contrasts with the 
old system whereby candidates were elected on party rank- 
ordered congressional lists.  USAID and other international 
donors will support the elections with about USD four 
million.  A Supreme Electoral Tribunal, managed by political 
party appointees, has national authority to run the 
elections.  End Summary. 
 
2. Septel will provide more information on the political 
movements battling in the primaries and Post's assessment of 
the likely winners of the presidential nominations. 
 
February Primaries - Three Parties Participating 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
3. Honduran primary elections are scheduled for February 20, 
2005, with general elections set for November 27, 2005.  The 
primaries will be open primaries, meaning that voters can 
choose which primary they want to vote in, as opposed to a 
closed primary that is restricted to party members only. 
Voters will be voting for candidates for president/vice 
president, congress, mayor, and city council, all of whom 
under running under a specific movement within a party. 
Three out of the five parties, the National Party (PN), the 
Liberal Party (PL), and the Democratic Unification Party 
(UD), will participate in the primaries.  (Note:  The second 
UD slate may not be registered by the TSE, in which case the 
UD will not participate in the primary elections.  End Note.) 
The Christian Democrat Party (DC) and the Innovation and 
Unity Party (PINU) will not have primary elections, but 
instead will present candidate lists to the Supreme Electoral 
Tribunal (TSE) for the general election.  Independent 
candidates who meet the registration requirements may run in 
the general elections only if they did not run and lose in a 
party primary election. 
 
TSE - Key Institution for Elections 
 
SIPDIS 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. The TSE has national authority to run the elections, with 
298 municipal commissions reporting to 18 departmental 
commissions which in turn report to the TSE.  The TSE budget 
is USD 18 million for primary and general elections, which 
the TSE is seeking from Congress.  The TSE has 135 employees 
- 60 administrative, 30 technical staff, and 45 support 
staff.  The National Registry of Persons (RNP), which 
provides identity documents to Honduran citizens and then 
forwards lists of eligible voters to the TSE, will loan the 
TSE another 10 people.  The TSE must train all poll workers; 
 
SIPDIS 
there will be 96,000 - 168,000 poll workers.  Police and the 
military will be responsible for the transport and security 
of ballots. 
 
5. The TSE consists of President Jacobo Hernandez Cruz (PN), 
Magistrate Aristides Mejia (PL), Magistrate Saul Escobar 
(DC), and Backup Magistrate Yolanda de Vargas (PINU). 
 
New this Election - Photos and Other Reforms 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
6. Under a new Electoral law passed in January that came into 
effect in April, voters will be able to select candidates for 
the National Congress in the 2005 elections based not only on 
their names but also on their photographs, a process without 
precedent in Honduras (reftel).  This new method for the 
direct election of congressional members contrasts with the 
old system whereby candidates were elected on party rank- 
ordered congressional lists.  It is thus the first primary 
for congressional and city council candidates.  The ballot 
will be a paper ballot printed in color, with a box under the 
name/photo of each candidate.  Voters must check a box below 
each candidate they choose for a ballot to be valid.  Voter 
can "cross" their votes and select individual candidates from 
different movements within the same party. 
 
7. The new law limits campaigns to 50 days for primary 
elections and 90 days for general elections. A political 
candidate can run for one political position only.  The 
office of Vice President was created, and the current system 
of three presidential designates was eliminated in the new 
law.  The law also mandated limited campaign finance 
reporting requirements. 
3.4-3.8 Million Eligible Voters 
------------------------------- 
 
8. There are 3.46 million people on the draft list of 
eligible voters for primary elections; experts expect the 
final list set to be published January 5, 2005, to contain 
approximately 3.8 million people (Honduras has a population 
of approximately 7 million.)  Honduran voters abroad will be 
able to vote for President and Vice President in the general 
election at Honduran embassies or consulates.  Suffrage is 
universal and mandatory for those 18 and older; however, the 
clergy and members of the military or civilian security 
forces are not permitted to vote.  Convicted felons cannot 
vote. 
Technical Assistance 
-------------------- 
 
9. USAID is using USD 65,000 of the Bureau of Democracy, 
Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) core funds under 
DCHA's contract with the International Foundation for 
Election Systems (IFES) to obtain almost three person-months 
of the services of a high-level elections expert, Rafael 
Lopez-Pintor, for Honduras beginning in late October.  Mr. 
Lopez-Pintor's overall assignment is to help the TSE to 
develop its strategic approaches to implementing the new law. 
Mr. Lopez just completed (a) an assessment of the 
organizational and administrative capacity of the TSE to 
carry out the primary and general elections next year, and 
(b) assessed TSE's preparations to date for the elections. 
 
10. USAID is also programming about USD 216,000, converted 
from local currency trust fund resources, to a Cooperative 
Agreement with the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. 
Its Center for Electoral Assessment and Promotion (CAPEL) 
will use those resources to provide advisory assistance to 
(a) the GOH and NGOs in the development of a national voter 
education program and (b) the GOH in implementing the 
elections in accordance with the new law. 
 
11. USAID's Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) 
has provided USD 130,000 to be used for elections, which have 
been obligated in the amendment signed August 30, 2004, for 
the new Ruling Justly Strategic Objective.   The funds have 
been added through an amendment to an existing Cooperative 
Agreement with the Federation of Development Associations of 
Honduras (FOPRIDEH), an NGO umbrella organization, to support 
its election assistance program.  FOPRIDEH has been working, 
with USAID assistance, on electoral reform for several years, 
and was instrumental in building public and Congressional 
support for electoral law change.  FOPRIDEH has signed an 
agreement with the TSE to formalize cooperation between them 
in implementing the elections, with FOPRIDEH centering its 
program on a civic education campaign (media and leaflets) to 
familiarize voters with the new systems required by the new 
law and to promote dialogues on the role of civil society and 
the importance of political parties for democracy in 
Honduras. 
 
12. On November 3, USAID, through the Strengthened Rule of 
Law Program (SROL), agreed to a GOH request to use USD one 
million of local currency funds to support the TSE during the 
2005 elections.  A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was 
signed with the Organization of American States (OAS) in 
order to join forces in support of the electoral process, and 
with the Ministry of Finance (MOF).  Specifically, $500,000 
will be used to buy computer equipment for the elections 
through an OAS procurement process, and the remaining 
$500,000 will be programmed based on USAID's recommendations 
derived from Mr. Lopez-Pintor's assessment.  (See septel for 
problems involving this MOU.) 
 
13. The Organization of American States (OAS) will provide 
technical assistance for computers and vote counting.  Two 
OAS consultants are working under Swedish funding with the 
GOH on the development of the long run capacity of the TSE 
and the RNP to implement the new electoral law.  Swedish 
funds are divided roughly equally between the two 
institutions, total about USD 2-2.5 million, and are designed 
to finance assistance for a two-year period. 
 
Palmer