2013 Honduran general election

General elections were held in Honduras on November 24, 2013.[1] Voters went to the polls to elect a new President, the 128 members of the National Congress, 298 Mayors and vice-mayors and their respective councilors and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament.

2013 Honduran general election

November 24, 2013

Nominee Juan Orlando Hernández Xiomara Castro Party National LIBRE Popular vote 1,149,302 896,498 Percentage 36.89% 28.78%   Nominee Mauricio Villeda Salvador Nasralla Party Liberal Anti-Corruption Popular vote 632,320 418,443 Percentage 20.30% 13.43%

President before election Porfirio Lobo Sosa National Elected President Juan Orlando Hernández National

The closely watched presidential election saw a field of eight candidates vying to succeed outgoing President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, who is not eligible to run for re-election. Salvador Nasralla, a sports journalist and television personality, and Xiomara Castro, the wife of the deposed president Mel Zelaya, both candidates from newly formed political parties (the Anti-Corruption Party and Libre, respectively) were leading in most of the early polls. However, as the election neared, the candidates of the two traditional parties – Juan Orlando Hernández of the National Party and Mauricio Villeda of the Liberal Party – both surged in the polls.

Background

This is the first election to be contested by the opposition since the controversial and polarising 2009 Honduran coup d'état. The social mobilization since then led to the founding of the main opposition party, Libre.[2]

Two-party system

Honduras has historically been dominated by a two-party system – the National Party and the Liberal Party. This election represents the first time in Honduran history in which other parties have a chance at winning the presidency or at least gaining a significant representation in the Congress, four of which find their genesis post-coup.[3]

Human rights concerns

The elections are set to take place amidst a deteriorating human rights situations.[4] Amnesty International called attention to the killings of human rights defenders in the lead-up to the election, noting that Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world yet only twenty percent of homicides are investigated.[4] Honduran human rights organizations formed the Board of Analysis on the Human Rights Situation to monitor human rights violations surrounding the election,[5] pointing to the level of political violence in the country: human rights group Rights Action examined the period between May 2012 and October 2013 and documented 36 killings and 24 armed attacks against pre-candidates, candidates, their families and campaign leaders across all parties, with Libre experiencing the majority of both armed attacks and killings.[6] In light of this situation, 24 U.S. Senators signed a letter to the U.S. State Department expressing their concerns about the upcoming elections.[7]

Campaign

Key electoral issues have been citizen security, organized crime, unemployment, and corruption.[8] One of the main components of Hernández's campaign is his promise to put "a soldier on every corner."[9] For her part, Castro has emphasized the need for community policing and secure borders.[10]

Presidential candidates

Candidate	Running mates	Party
Juan Orlando Hernández	Ricardo Álvarez Arias Ana Rossana Guevara Pinto Lorena Enriqueta Herrera Estévez	National Party
Xiomara Castro	Juan Alberto Barahona Mejía Juliette Handal Eduardo Enrique Reina García	Liberty and Refoundation
Mauricio Villeda	María Cristina González Romero José Martín Chicas Munguía Lía Argentina Bueso Chinchilla	Liberal Party
Salvador Nasralla	Soraya Asunción Salabarrieta Selene Suyara Sánchez Sierra Ricardo Emigdio Mena	Anti-Corruption Party
Romeo Vásquez Velásquez	Nadia Kafaty Geadah Amílcar Santamaría Graciamaría Agüero Guevara	Patriotic Alliance
Orle Solís	Gessy Yolany Torres Rodríguez Gertrúdiz Ramos Escobar Luis Fernando Zúniga Cuesta	Christian Democratic Party
Jorge Aguilar Paredes	Sonia Matilde Fiallos Guillermo Enrique Valle Myrna Maritza Castellanos	Innovation and Unity Party
Andrés Pavón	Lourdes Marlen Cruz Adolfo Cruz Ruiz Mirian Rosaura Jácome Mejía	FAPER–Democratic Unification

Primaries

Primaries were held for the National Party, Liberal Party and Libre.

National

Juan Orlando Hernández, president of the National Congress of Honduras, won the presidential nomination of the National Party. The other candidates were Ricardo Álvarez (the Mayor of Tegucigalpa), Fernando Anduray (National Congress deputy), Victor Hugo Barnica (Third Vice President of Honduras), Eva Fernandez, Loreley Fernandez, and Miguel Pastor (Secretary of State for Public Works, Transport, and Housing). The Supreme Electoral Tribunal certified Hernández's victory, but Álvarez immediately presented an appeal, accusing Hernández of fraud and asking for a recount.[11] The appeal was rejected by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, four of whose five members were replaced by Hernández a month earlier in a move widely criticized as an illegal "technical coup".[9][12][13] Álvarez and Pastor refused to attend the party convention in protest, claiming that they were being persecuted by their own party.[14]

Liberal

Mauricio Villeda, won the presidential nomination of the Liberal Party. Other candidates in the fray for the presidential nomination were Esteban Handal Perez and Yani Rosenthal (National Congress deputy and former Minister of Presidency).

Libre

Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, former First Lady of Honduras, was the sole presidential candidate in the Libre primaries.

Opinion polls

President

Pollster	Date	Sample	Candidate
			Hernández (PN)	Castro (Libre)	Villeda (PL)	Nasralla (PAC)	(other response)
Cid/Gallup[15]	6–12 September 2013	1,220	27%	29%	15%	11%
Paradigma[16]	16–24 September 2013	2,400	21.9%	22.8%	12.0%	10.0%	Others: 1%; Don't know/no response: 11%; None: 21.3%
TecniMerk[17]	28 September – 5 October 2013	2,500	21.0%	31.2%	13.3%	14.8%	Don't know/no response: 18.5%
Cid/Gallup[18]	9–15 October 2013	1,525	28%	27%	17%	9%
Paradigma[19]	10–19 October 2013	4,025	25.7%	22.2%	10.7%	9.9%	Others: 0.7%; Don't know/no response: 12.3%; None: 18.5%

Congress

Pollster	Date	Sample	PN	Libre	PL	PAC	Other party	None/Independents/No answer
Cid/Gallup[15]	6–12 September 2013	1,220	32%	22%	21%	8%	17%
Paradigma[16]	16–24 September 2013	2,400	28.7%	20.6%	19.1%	3.7%	0.9%	27.0%
TecniMerk[17]	28 September – 5 October 2013	2,500	28.5%	28.2%	14.8%	9.6%
Cid/Gallup[18]	9–15 October 2013	1,525	35%	19%	22%	6%	18%
Paradigma[19]	10–19 October 2013	4,025	30.0%	20.0%	18.0%	3.2%	0.5%	28.3%

Conduct

Honduran elections have historically been marred by fraud,[20][21][22] and polls leading up to the elections found that 59% of Hondurans believe the elections would be fraudulent.[23] However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has stated that these would be the most clean and fair elections in Honduras's history, and both the traditionally dominant parties – the National and Liberal parties – agree.[24] The newly formed Libre Party and Anti-Corruption Party fear that there would be fraud, a position backed by the Carter Center.[24] Anti-Corruption Party candidate Salvador Nasralla publicly denounced attempts at vote-buying by the National Party across the country.[25] Nasralla highlighted National Party control of key government institutions like the Public Ministry and the Supreme Court.[25] Dana Frank, writing in The Nation, echoed these concerns, noting National Party candidate Hernández's participation in both the illegal naming of a new attorney general in August 2013 and the illegal destitution of four Supreme Court judges in December 2012,[9] the latter of which ultimately resulted in Hernández securing his party's nomination for the presidency.[20]

The TSE has stated that over 700 international election observers, representing various governments and organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union, and the Carter Center, will be present to monitor the elections.[26] In the days before the election, international observers in the department of Yoro and in the capital Tegucigalpa reported targeted harassment and intimidation on the part of immigration officials and unidentified armed men.[27] The TSE confirmed these reports and ordered the Honduran immigration authorities to stop all of these types of operations concerning election observers.[28]

Results

President

Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Juan Orlando Hernández	Ricardo Álvarez Arias	National Party	1,149,302	36.89
	Xiomara Castro	Juan Alberto Barahona Mejía	Liberty and Refoundation	896,498	28.78
	Mauricio Villeda	María Cristina González Romero	Liberal Party of Honduras	632,320	20.30
	Salvador Nasralla	Soraya Asunción Salabarrieta	Anti-Corruption Party	418,443	13.43
	Romeo Vásquez Velásquez	Nadia Kafaty Geadah	Patriotic Alliance	6,105	0.20
	Orle Solís	Gessy Yolany Torres Rodríguez	Christian Democratic Party	5,194	0.17
	Jorge Aguilar Paredes	Sonia Matilde Fiallos	Innovation and Unity Party	4,468	0.14
	Andrés Pavón	Lourdes Marlen Cruz	FAPER–Democratic Unification	3,118	0.10
Total				3,115,448	100.00
Valid votes				3,115,448	95.12
Invalid/blank votes				159,898	4.88
Total votes				3,275,346	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				5,355,112	61.16
Source: TSE

National Congress

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Party	9,255,904	33.64	48	–23
	Liberty and Refoundation	7,568,392	27.51	37	New
	Liberal Party	4,670,157	16.97	27	–18
	Anti-Corruption Party	4,169,245	15.15	13	New
	Innovation and Unity Party	506,321	1.84	1	–2
	Democratic Unification Party	460,814	1.67	1	–3
	Christian Democratic Party	444,734	1.62	1	–4
	Honduran Patriotic Alliance	272,347	0.99	0	New
	FAPER–Democratic Unification	128,488	0.47	0	–
	Independent Socialist candidates	20,429	0.07	0	–
	FAPER	9,011	0.03	0	New
	United for Choluteca	8,542	0.03	0	–
Total		27,514,384	100.00	128	0
Valid votes		2,699,544	85.98
Invalid/blank votes		440,146	14.02
Total votes		3,139,690	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,308,781	59.14
Source: Election Passport, IPU

Aftermath

Juan Orlando Hernández was announced as the winner in a result the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's head, David Matamoros, called "irreversible",[29] this followed initial claims by both leading candidates of having won. While opposition protests continued, Hernández said the result was "not negotiable with anybody" and named a transition team.[29]

However Castro and Nasralla disputed the results,[30] and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro accused the United States of "meddling in the internal affairs of Hondurans."[31] Castro called on her supporters to hold a protest on Saturday 30 November.[32]

According to the North American Congress on Latin America, the elections were "fraught with irregularities and violent intimidation, threatening to throw the embattled nation into further political disarray."[33] However, observers from the Organization of American States and the United Nations declared that the elections met international standards and were both free and fair.[34]

See also

• Parliamentary candidates in the 2013 Honduran general election

References

1. Tribunal Supremo Electoral Honduras (9 April 2013). "Universidades de País Apoyaran al TSE para la Realización de las Elecciones Generales". TSE. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
2. Nina Lakhami (23 November 2013). "The fight to take power in Honduras". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
3. Carlos Salinas (October 8, 2013). "Honduras rompe cien años de bipartidismo". El País. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
4. "Honduras: Elections should mark a turning point for human rights". Amnesty International. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
5. "Humanitarian national emergency". Radio Mundo Real. October 31, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
6. Karen Spring (October 21, 2013). "Context of the Honduran Electoral Process 2012: Incomplete list of Killings and Armed Attacks Related to Political Campaigning in Honduras" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-11-16.
7. Lauren Carasik (November 3, 2013). "Honduras' political violence threatens to undermine its November elections". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
8. Javier Sánchez (May 24, 2013). "Histórico abanico de partidos". La Tribuna. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
9. Dana Frank (November 6, 2013). "A High-Stakes Election in Honduras". The Nation. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
10. "En Tocoa, Colón: Xiomara ofrece policía comunitaria y enviaría militares a cuidar fronteras". El Tiempo. August 4, 2013. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
11. "Ricardo Álvarez anuncia que presentará recurso". El Heraldo. December 11, 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-17. (Spanish)
12. "Sala Constitucional declara inadmisible conteo voto por voto". El Heraldo. January 24, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
13. Annie Bird (January 8, 2013). "December 12, 2012 "Coup" in Honduras: The Constitutional Court Dismissed as Primary Elections are Challenged". Rights Action. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
14. "Ricardo y Miguel confirman que no irán a Convención nacionalista". La Prensa. August 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17. (Spanish)
15. "Remonta Juan Orlando Hernández en intención de voto presidencial", La Prensa (in Spanish), 24 September 2013, retrieved 2013-11-16
16. "Intención de voto para presidente a nivel nacional – Encuestra Septiembre 2013", Paradigma Encuestadora (in Spanish), 29 September 2013, archived from the original on 3 December 2013, retrieved 2013-11-16
17. "Honduras: Xiomara Castro sigue encabezando encuestas", Kaos en la Red (in Spanish), 11 October 2013, archived from the original on 22 November 2013, retrieved 2013-11-22
18. "Honduras: Juan Orlando arriba 5 puntos según CID-Gallup", La Prensa (in Spanish), 24 October 2013, retrieved 2013-11-16
19. "Intención de voto para presidente a nivel nacional – Encuestra Octubre 2013", Paradigma Encuestadora (in Spanish), 21 October 2013, archived from the original on 3 December 2013, retrieved 2013-11-16
20. Gina Kawas (November 6, 2013). "El fantasma del fraude electoral en Honduras". Panam Post. Retrieved 2013-11-17. (Spanish)
21. Orlin Cruz Martínez (October 4, 2013). "A Propósito de Fraude Electoral". El Tiempo. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17. (Spanish)
22. Parvez Jabri (October 19, 2013). "US lawmakers warn Kerry of Honduras vote problems". Business Recorder. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
23. "Survey shows Honduran citizens expect electoral fraud, and are dissatisfied with democracy". Resistencia Honduras. September 27, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
24. Gustavo Veiga (November 4, 2013). "Honduras irá a las urnas marcada por el golpe". Página 12. Retrieved 2013-11-16. (Spanish)
25. ""Partido Nacional ya compró credenciales": Nasralla". La Prensa. August 19, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17. (Spanish)
26. "Unos 700 observadores internacionales vigilarán las elecciones en Honduras". El Mundo. November 9, 2013. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
27. "Honduras: Detienen a Delegación Internacional de Observación de DDHH". Diario Uchile. November 23, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-23. (Spanish)
28. "Ordenan a Migración detener operativo". El Heraldo. November 23, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-23. (Spanish)
29. "Hernandez lead 'irreversible' in Honduras". Al Jazeera. November 26, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
30. "Tension increases in Honduras, as election sparks competing claims of victory, fraud". The Washington Post. November 25, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
31. "Venezuela's Maduro Rejects US "Intervention" in Honduras". Venezuelanalysis.com. November 26, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
32. "Winner named in Honduras presidential vote; opposition vows protests". CNN. November 27, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
33. "Honduran Election Results Contested by International Observers". North American Congress on Latin America. November 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
34. "BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 7 December 2013.