US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA1665

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001665 
 
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, PHUM, KDEM, KIRF, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAN ELECTIONS NEWS: UPDATE 1 
 
REF: Tegucigalpa 1541 
 
1. Summary: As the November 27 general elections in Honduras 
draw near, a number of small but important issues that will 
affect the elections are at play.  Post is tracking these 
issues and will report on them in a series of election news 
updates; this is the first cable in the series.  Many of 
these issues are controversial, highly political issues that 
are playing out in the public arena.  Nevertheless, the 
electoral process is continuing its course toward election 
day.  End Summary. 
 
Lottery for Ballot Position of Political Parties 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
2. On July 27, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) held a 
lottery to determine the parties' positions on the electoral 
ballot for the general elections to be held on November 27. 
All of the TSE's senior officials were present at the 
drawing, as well as campaign managers and inner circle 
politicians of all the parties.  The presidential candidates 
of the three small parties were also present.  The 
presidential candidates for the National and Liberal parties 
did not attend the drawing. 
 
3. The Lottery results are:  Innovation and National Unity 
Party (PINU) in first position; National Party in second 
position; Liberal Party in third position; Democratic Union 
(UD) in fourth position; and Christian Democrat (CD) in fifth 
position on the ballot for general elections. 
 
Voter Registration List to be cleaned up by September 11 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
4. The Electoral Law (Article 50) mandates that the voter 
registration list be corrected at least two and a half months 
before the general elections take place.  All deceased 
persons have to be deleted from the list so they do not 
overburden the system or lead to possible identity theft. In 
addition, duplicate registrations will be annulled and only 
the first entries will become valid ones.  Fraudulent 
registrations will be excluded. 
 
Pastors Out as Candidates 
------------------------- 
 
5. The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled on 
July 28 to disqualify evangelical pastors running for office 
in the general elections.  The Constitution bans clergy, as 
well as military members, from running for public office. 
The pastors, representing three different Protestant 
evangelical churches in the country, were asked by their 
colleagues of the Evangelical Fraternity to resign their 
pastoral activities in order to run for political office. 
The three pastors refused and lawyer Humberto Espinal Padilla 
introduced a stay in court arguing that disallowing the 
pastors to run for political office violated Articles 77 and 
198 of the Constitution. 
 
6. The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court based 
their decision on the technicality that the TSE needed to 
present the pastors' case files/appeal twenty-four hours 
after the SCJ requested them, and did not do so.  TSE 
Secretary General Augusto Aguilar said the Supreme Court 
 
SIPDIS 
official file request did not arrive at the TSE until a week 
after the files were required.  The president of the TSE 
presented an explanation of the oversight to the 
Constitutional Chamber but, despite the explanation, the 
Constitutional Chamber upheld the disqualification of pastors 
Mario Thomas Barahona, Heriberto Antonio Chicas, and Rafael 
Isidro Antunez. 
 
7. The immediate reaction by the pastors after 
disqualification was that they were going to seek redress 
from the Inter-American Court for Human Rights (IACHR).  They 
also threatened to resign as pastors so that the Supreme 
Court could reconsider their case.  However, on August 1, 
Antunez resigned his congressional candidacy instead. 
 
14,600 Candidates Investigated for Possible Debt to GOH 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
8. More than 14,600 candidates for the elections are under 
investigation by the Supreme Accounting Tribunal (TSC) for 
pending debts with the government.  The TSE submitted all the 
final candidate lists last week to the TSC as prescribed by 
the Electoral Law. 
 
9. The law (Article 199, No. 13) states that citizens with 
pending national government debts cannot be elected to 
congressional, mayoral, or council offices.  Many candidates 
have also been accused of mismanagement of funds.  In such 
cases, some candidates have already been called for public 
accountability. 
 
10. In addition, the TSE is putting together a list of 
candidates who have disregarded the stipulation in the 
Electoral Law which calls for their resignation from 
government office six months before the general elections 
take place.  Whether those candidates who have ignored the 
law will be banned from running in the election has yet to be 
determined. 
 
Tuebner