Decree No. 275-2010 Reform to Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic Regulating Plebiscites and Referendums

Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic, as reformed by Decree No. 242-2003 dated January 20, 2004, ratified by Decree No. 177-2004 of November 24, 2004, and Article 213 of the Constitution of the Republic, contained in Decree No. 131, issued by the National Constituent Assembly on January 11, 1982, are hereby reformed and shall be read as follows:

The Government of the Republic must be based on the principles of popular sovereignty, self-determination of peoples, and participatory democracy, from which national integration is derived, which implies the participation of all political sectors in Public Administration, political stability, and social peace. To strengthen representative democracy, the following are established as mechanisms of citizen participation: the referendum, the plebiscite, and the citizen law initiative. The referendum shall be called upon an Ordinary Law or a constitutional norm or its reform as approved, for its ratification or impugning by the citizenry. The plebiscite shall be called upon requesting citizens to pronounce on constitutional, legislative, or administrative matters on which the Constituted Powers have not made any prior decision. The referendum and the plebiscite may be held at the national, regional, subregional, departmental, and municipal levels. Those with the right to initiate a referendum or plebiscite are:

• 1)

  At least two percent (2%) of citizens registered in the National Electoral Census, according to the information that must be provided proportionally by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to the National Congress;

• 2)

  At least ten (10) Deputies of the National Congress; and,

• 3)

  The President of the Republic by resolution of the Council of Secretaries of State. The National Congress must consider and discuss such petitions, and if it approves them, it must issue a Decree determining the scope of the consultation, ordering the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to convene, organize, and direct the consultations with citizens. The percentages of legislative approval for citizen consultations shall be determined according to what is being consulted in accordance with this Constitution, by simple majority of the total of its members regarding ordinary legislative matters, by three-thirds of the total of its members when referring to constitutional matters. A Special Law approved by two-thirds of the total of the Deputies of the National Congress must determine the procedures, requirements, and other necessary aspects for the exercise of the mechanisms of citizen participation. It is the exclusive responsibility of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to convene, organize, and direct citizen consultations. Citizen consultations should preferably be held on the same date as general elections. The exercise of the right to vote in citizen consultations is mandatory. The result of citizen consultations is mandatory when there is the concurrence of at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the total participation in the last general election, and the affirmative vote achieves the majority of valid votes. The Special Law must determine who has the right to initiate the call for a citizen consultation when it is not at the national level, as well as the participation percentage necessary for it to be valid. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal, once it has learned of the official result within the term established by the Special Law, must inform the National Congress within ten (10) days about the result of the consultation. The National Congress must issue a Decree ordering the implementation of the norms resulting from the citizen consultation. If the initiative submitted to consultation is approved, neither the sanction of the Executive Branch nor its veto shall be necessary, and accordingly, the National Congress shall order the publication of the approved norms. These norms may only be repealed or reformed through the same approval process. Consultation on the same matters cannot be held in the same period of Government nor in the following one.

Exclusively the right to introduce bills is held by Deputies to the National Congress, the President of the Republic through the Secretaries of State, the Supreme Court of Justice and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in matters within their competence, and a number of at least three thousand (3,000) citizens under the mechanism of citizen law initiative.

This Decree shall enter into force upon being ratified constitutionally by the subsequent Ordinary Legislature and must be published in the Official Journal "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, at the Convention Center of Hotel Plaza Juan Carlos, on the thirteenth day of the month of January of two thousand eleven. JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT RIGOBERTO CHANG CASTILLO SECRETARY ELISEO NOEL MEJIA CASTILLO SECRETARY To the Executive Branch. Therefore: Let it be Published. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., January 19, 2011. PORFIRIO LOBO SOSA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC The Secretary of State in the Offices of Interior and Population. CARLOS AFRICO MADRID HART HONDURAN PRESS ORGAN FOR THE SECURITY OF ITS PUBLICATIONS LIC. MARTHA ALICIA GARCIA General Director JORGE ALBERTO RICO SALINAS Coordinator and Supervisor Office: Minorones Telephone Numbers: 2335-0701, 2335-0756 Administration: 220-3028 Plant: 2204-8787 GOVERNMENTAL CIVIC CENTER