The National Congress advanced this Monday in the reactivation of the electoral bodies by forming a special multiparty commission, which will be in charge of selecting the professionals who will fill the vacancies in the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Electoral Justice Court (TJE).
After the recent dismissals resulting from political trials, the Legislature seeks to immediately fill a vacant position and a substitute in the CNE, as well as two magistrates and two substitutes in the ECJ.
The decision, made after consensus between the board of directors and the heads of the caucus, is based on articles 26, 27 and 28 of the Electoral Law and article 19 of the Electoral Procedure Law.
The commission has the mandate to be installed immediately to define the invitation procedure, receipt of resumes and the holding of public hearings that allow the identification of the candidates with the greatest technical and ethical suitability for these positions of high democratic relevance.
“We have spoken with the heads of the caucus with the board of directors, we are going to appoint a special commission to meet today to establish the procedure to request and invite people who meet the legal requirements to present their resume,” announced Tomás Zambrano, president of the National Congress.
Zambrano emphasized that the process will be rigorous and transparent, delegating to the commission the responsibility of evaluating the profiles and presenting the names of the most capable professionals to the plenary session.
The head of the Legislature called on the different political forces to motivate the most prominent professionals in the country to participate in this selection process, highlighting that the legal times for self-nominations are extremely short.
”The deadlines are already established; those who want to participate to self-nominate in the National Electoral Council will only have 5 days from tomorrow to present their resumes, and those who are interested in participating in the Electoral Court of Justice, 3 days. The terms are fatal,” Zambrano warned during the legislative session.
The special commission will be chaired by deputy Antonio Rivera Callejas, accompanied by secretaries Francis Cabrera and Lissi Matute Cano.
The rest of the evaluation team is made up of deputies Alex Ordóñez, Eder Mejía, Luz Angélica Smith, Erika Urtecho, Oswaldo José Ramos, Godofredo Fajardo, Carlenton Dávila, Fernando Castro and David Manaiza.
Alternate members: Marcos Paz, Germán Altamirano, Allan Padilla and Karlin Isvela Álvarez.
For his part, the president of the newly appointed commission, Antonio Rivera Callejas, reported that the first work meeting will take place immediately in the Ramón Rosa room.
Rivera Callejas took advantage of the parliamentary broadcast to remind potential applicants of the legal requirements that they must meet for their applications to be admitted in this national emergency process. “For the CNE, you must be Honduran by birth, over 30 years of age, have a university degree, recognized suitability and be in full exercise of your rights. For the FJE, the requirements are: be Honduran by birth, a citizen in the exercise of your rights, a lawyer with more than 10 years of experience and over 35 years,” explained Rivera Callejas.
The legislator reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to act quickly and present to the plenary session the candidates who, after the hearings and evaluations, prove to be the most suitable to guarantee transparency in the upcoming electoral processes.
It is expected that, given that the deadlines expire this week, the commission will work extended hours to carry out the review of the files.
