| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Congreso Nacional / National Congress |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
27 November 2005 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Parliamentary elections were held in parallel with presidential elections on 27 November 2005.
In the last elections held in 2000, the ruling National Party (PN) won 61 out of 128 seats in parliament, followed by the main opposition Liberal Party (PL) with 55 seats. The remainder went to three small parties: five to the Party of Democratic Unification (PUD), four to the National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party (PINU-SD), and three to the Christian Democratic Party of Honduras (PDCH).
In the 2005 elections, the media focused on the presidential elections. The two leading presidential candidates were the incumbent Speaker of the Congress, Mr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa, representing the PN, and a former minister of investment, Mr. Manuel Zelaya, of the PL.
Mr. Lobo Sosa pledged to wipe out violent crime by introducing the death penalty for grievous crimes such as sexual assault, kidnapping and murder in order to make Honduras a crime-free country. His main rival, Mr. Zelaya, vowed to eliminate widespread government corruption under a "citizens' empowerment" plan. He also promised to pass a transparency law and establish a civil assembly to monitor the government. Both leading candidates pledged to fight poverty, unemployment, poor housing and malnutrition. Honduras has poverty and unemployment rates of 71 and 46 per cent respectively.
About 46 per cent of the four million registered voters turned out at the polls, which were monitored by a total of 114 election observers from 14 countries of the Organization of American States along with 6,000 local observers. More than 16,000 soldiers and police officers were deployed. The OAS declared that delays, some complaints of irregularities, and general difficulties "did not alter the process as a whole."
Mr. Zelaya of the PL won the presidential elections with 49.9 per cent of the vote compared with Mr. Lobo's 46.2 per cent. The PL also became the largest party in parliament with 62 seats, while the PN won 55. The UD obtained five, the PDCH, four, and two seats went to the PINU.
For the first time in the 75-year history of the Congress, three Garifunas (Hondurans of African descent) were elected.
The National Congress convened on 19 January 2006, and elected Mr. Roberto Micheletti of the Liberal Party as Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 27 November 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
3'988'605
1'833'710 (45.97%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Liberal Party (LP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| National party (NP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Party of Democratic Unification (PUD) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Christian Democratic Party of Honduras (PDCH) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Innovation and Unity Party (PINU) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Gain/Loss |
|
|
|
| Liberal Party (LP) |
62
|
7 |
|
|
|
| National party (NP) |
55
|
-6 |
|
|
|
| Party of Democratic Unification (PUD) |
5
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Christian Democratic Party of Honduras (PDCH) |
4
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Innovation and Unity Party (PINU) |
2
|
-2 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
98
30
23.44%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Source:
http://www.tse.hn/
Congreso nacional (13.01.2006) |
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page