US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA1680

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001680 
 
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:  HONDURAN ELECTIONS NEWS: UPDATE 2 
 
REF: Tegucigalpa 1665 
 
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 second 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. 
 
TSE: 1,580 people for departmental/municipal tribunals 
 
SIPDIS 
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2. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has installed the 
departmental tribunals, formed of representatives from each 
of the political parties, to follow the electoral agenda. 
Each of the five parties has accredited 18 principal 
representatives and 18 alternates for each of the 
departmental tribunals.  The TSE has registered 298 principal 
representatives and 298 alternates at the municipal level. 
TSE personnel will total 1,580 persons (90 at the 
 
SIPDIS 
departmental level and 1,490 at the municipal level). 
According to the TSE, only the principal representatives at 
the departmental and municipal levels will earn salaries. 
 
3. According to the new Electoral Law, the departmental 
tribunals must be ready to operate four and a half months 
before the general elections and will continue to operate a 
month after the elections.  Their main function is to review 
the departmental electoral results and send them to 
Tegucigalpa for the official tally.  The principal tribunal 
representatives will sign contracts with the TSE and are 
forbidden from defending specific political interests. 
 
Several Independent Candidacies Disqualified by TSE 
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4. On July 18, the TSE published a list of disqualified 
independent candidacies for pubic office and the reasons for 
the disqualification of their registrations.  Most of these 
candidates presented inaccurate, incomplete, or fraudulent 
documentation. 
 
500,000 Senior Citizens Threaten to Abstain from Voting 
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5. The National Association of Senior Citizens (ANAMH), which 
has a membership of approximately 500,000 senior citizens, 
has pledged to boycott the elections in protest of President 
Ricardo Maduro's presidential veto of the Senior Citizens Law 
which would have improved their retirement pensions.  The 
seniors argue that it is not fair for some of them to have to 
retire with pensions equivalent to 750 Lempiras per month 
(less than USD 40 per month).  Seniors say that once again 
they are left out of government plans despite the fact that 
they make up 15 percent of the voting population. 
 
TSE Requests an Additional 76.5 Million Lempiras 
 
SIPDIS 
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6. The president of the TSE, magistrate Aristides Mejia, has 
said that he will request an additional 76.5 Million Lempiras 
(USD 4 million) from  the Ministry of Finance to adequately 
cover the electoral process.  According to Mejia, he plans to 
use approximately 40 Million Lempiras (USD 2 million) to pay 
the departmental and municipal electoral tribunals.  Part of 
the additional budget request would reportedly cover TSE 
costs with working with election observers. 
 
TUEBNER