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Honduras GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROCESS
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Figure 8. Organization of the Government, 1993
Executive
The executive branch in Honduras, headed by a president
who is
elected by a simple majority, has traditionally dominated
the
legislative and judicial branches of government
(see
fig. 8).
According to political scientist Mark B. Rosenberg, the
entire
Honduran government apparatus is dependent on the
president, who
defines or structures policy (with the exception of
security
policy, which remains in the military's realm) through
legislation
or policy decrees. However, Rosenberg also notes that in
an
environment of intense rivalry and animosity between the
two major
parties, in which the president is under pressure to
reward his
party's supporters, public policy initiatives often do not
fare
well, as the executive becomes bogged down with satisfying
more
pressing parochial needs. Political scientist James Morris
points
out that the executive-centered nature of the Honduran
political
system has endured whether the head of state has been an
elected
civilian politician or a general, and that the Honduran
state's
formal and informal center of authority is the executive.
According to the constitution, the president has
responsibility
for drawing up a national development plan, discussing it
in the
cabinet, submitting it to the National Congress for
approval,
directing it, and executing it. He or she directs the
economic and
financial policy of the state, including the supervision
and
control of banking institutions, insurance companies, and
investment houses through the National Banking and
Insurance
Commission. The president has responsibility for
prescribing
feasible measures to promote the rapid execution of
agrarian reform
and the development of production and productivity in
rural areas.
With regard to education policy, the president is
responsible for
organizing, directing, and promoting education as well as
for
eradicating illiteracy and improving technical education.
With
regard to health policy, the president is charged with
adopting
measures for the promotion, recovery, and rehabilitation
of the
population's health, as well as for disease prevention.
The
president also has responsibility for directing and
supporting
economic and social integration, both national and
international,
aimed at improving living conditions for Hondurans. In
addition,
the president directs foreign policy and relations, and
may
conclude treaties and agreements with foreign nations. He
or she
appoints the heads of diplomatic and consular missions.
With regard to the legislative branch, the president
participates in the enactment of laws by introducing bills
in the
National Congress through the cabinet ministers. The
president has
the power to sanction, veto, or promulgate and publish any
laws
approved by the National Congress. The president may
convene the
National Congress into special session, through a
Permanent
Committee of the National Congress, or may propose the
continuation
of the regular annual session. The president may send
messages to
the National Congress at any time and must deliver an
annual
message to the National Congress in person at the
beginning of each
regular legislative session. In addition, although the
constitution
gives the National Congress the power to elect numerous
government
officials (such as Supreme Court justices, the comptroller
general,
the attorney general, and the director of administrative
probity),
these selections are essentially made by the president and
rubberstamped by the National Congress.
The constitution sets forth forty-five powers of the
National
Congress, the most important being the power to make,
enact,
interpret, and repeal laws. Legislative bills may be
introduced in
the National Congress by any deputy or the president
(through the
cabinet ministers). The Supreme Court of Justice and the
TNE may
also introduce bills within their jurisdiction. In
practice, most
legislation and policy initiatives are introduced by the
executive
branch, although there are some instances where
legislation and
initiatives emanate from the National Congress. A bill
must be
debated on three different days before being voted upon,
with the
exception of urgent cases as determined by a simple
majority of the
deputies present. If approved, the measure is sent to the
executive
branch for sanction and promulgation. In general, a law is
considered compulsory after promulgation and after twenty
days from
being published in the official journal, Gaceta
Judicial. If
the president does not veto the bill within ten days, it
is
considered sanctioned and is to be promulgated by the
president.
If the president vetoes a measure, he must return it to
the
National Congress within ten days explaining the grounds
for
disapproval. To approve the bill again, the National
Congress must
again debate it and then ratify it by a two-thirds
majority vote,
whereupon it is sent to the executive branch for immediate
publication. However, if the president originally vetoed
the bill
on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, the bill
cannot be
debated in the National Congress until the Supreme Court
renders
its opinion on the measure within a timeframe specified by
the
National Congress. If an executive veto is not overridden
by the
National Congress, the bill may not be debated again in
the same
session of the National Congress.
If the National Congress approves a bill at the end of
its
session, and the president intends to veto it, the
president must
immediately notify the National Congress so that it can
extend the
session for ten days beyond when it receives the
disapproved bill.
If the president does not comply with this procedure, he
must
return the bill within the first eight days of the next
session of
the National Congress.
Certain acts and resolutions of the National Congress
may not be
vetoed by the president. Most significantly these include
the
budget law, amendments to the constitution, declarations
regarding
grounds for impeachment for high-ranking government
officials, and
decrees relating to the conduct of the executive branch.
With regard to security, the president is charged with
maintaining peace and internal security of the nation and
with
repelling every attack or external aggressor. During a
recess of
the National Congress, the president may declare war and
make
peace, although the National Congress must be convened
immediately.
The president may restrict or suspend certain individual
rights and
guarantees with the concurrence of the cabinet for a
period of
forty-five days, a period that may be renewed. (Article
187 of the
constitution spells out the procedure to be followed for
the
suspension of rights.) The president may deny or permit,
after
congressional authorization, the transit of foreign troops
through
Honduran territory. The president is also charged with
monitoring
the official behavior of public officials for the security
and
prestige of the Honduran government and state.
In theory, the president exercises command over the
armed forces
as the general commander and adopts necessary measures for
the
defense of the nation. The president confers military
ranks for
second lieutenant through captain based on the proposal of
the
commander in chief of the armed forces. Most importantly,
the
president is charged with ensuring that the army is
apolitical,
essentially professional, and obedient. In practice,
however, the
military operates autonomously. According to the view of
Honduran
political scientist Ernesto Paz Aguilar, the armed forces
is the
country's principal political force, exercising a tutelary
role
over the other institutions of government and constituting
a de
facto power that is not subordinate to civilian political
power.
Other observers, although acknowledging the military is a
politically powerful institution, maintain that the
military
essentially confines its spheres of influence to national
security
and internal stability, although in recent years, they
concede that
the military has had an increasing role in economic
activities.
Serving under the president are the ministers of the
cabinet,
who cooperate with the president in coordinating,
directing, and
supervising the organs and agencies of the executive
branch under
their jurisdiction. As required by Article 246 of the
constitution,
there are to be at least twelve departments of the cabinet
covering
the following portfolios: government and justice; the
Office of the
President; foreign affairs; economy and commerce; finance
and
public credit; national defense and public security; labor
and
social welfare; public health and social aid; public
education;
communications, public works, and transport; culture and
tourism;
and natural resources. In addition to these ministries, in
the
early 1990s, there was also another cabinet-level
department, the
Ministry of Planning, Coordination, and Budget. The
National
Congress may summon the cabinet ministers to answer
questions
relating to their portfolios. Within the first days of the
installation of the National Congress, ministers must
submit
annually a report on the work done in their respective
ministries.
The president convokes and presides over the cabinet
ministers in
a body known as the Council of Ministers, which, according
to the
constitution, meets at the president's initiative to make
decisions
on any matters he or she considers of national importance
and to
consider such cases specified by law.
In addition to the various ministries, the president
may create
commissions, either permanent or temporary, made up of
public
officials or other representatives of Honduran sectors to
undertake
certain projects or programs mandated by the executive.
The
president may also name commissioners to coordinate the
action of
public entities and agencies of the state or to develop
programs.
The Callejas (1990- ) government created several
presidential
commissions for certain projects or programs. In 1990
Callejas
established and headed the Modernization of the State
Commission,
which included thirty representatives of governmental
institutions,
the four legally recognized political parties, business,
and labor.
The objective of the commission was to study and design
national
policies for reforming the functioning of the Honduran
state,
including reform of the legislature and judiciary,
decentralization
of the power of the executive branch in favor of the
municipalities, and modernizing public administration.
In December 1992, the Callejas government appointed a
head to
the National Commission for the Protection of Human Rights
(Comisión Nacional para la Protección de Derechos
Humanos--
Conaprodeh), a new position established to protect the
rights of
persons who consider themselves victims of abuse or an
unjust act
by judicial or public administration.
In 1993 the Callejas government established two
additional
commissions, a Fiscal Intervention Commission to
investigate
governmental corruption that began with an inquiry into
corruption
at the Customs Directorate, and a high-level ad hoc
Commission for
Institutional Reform, headed by Roman Catholic Archbishop
Oscar
Andrés Rodríguez. The ad hoc commission, created in early
March
1993, was established to formulate recommendations within
thirty
days for specific measures to improve the security forces,
especially the National Directorate of Investigations
(Directorio
de Investigación Nacional--DIN), and to strengthen the
judiciary
and public prosecutor's office. The DNI was created
because of
growing public criticism of the DNI and military impunity.
It had
representatives from each branch of government, from the
military,
from each of the four 1993 presidential candidates, and
from the
mass media.
The Honduran civil service system regulates employment
in the
public sector, theoretically based on the principles of
competence,
efficiency, and honesty, according to the constitution. In
practice, however, the system has been a source of
political
patronage, which some observers claim has led to a bloated
bureaucracy. In 1990 there were an estimated 70,000
government
employees, including employees of the decentralized
institutions.
Economic austerity measures introduced by the Callejas
government
reportedly led to the dismissal of thousands of employees,
although
some claim that thousands of other employees were hired
because of
political patronage. According to some observers, a
fundamental
problem of the Honduran civil service is its
politicization,
whereby much of the bureaucracy is replaced when the
ruling party
changes. Traditionally, in Honduras, political patronage
has been
a key characteristic of the two dominant political
parties.
According to political scientist Mark B. Rosenberg, a
president
once in office is under tremendous pressure to provide
jobs,
recommendations, and other rewards to his followers in
exchange for
their continued loyalty and support.
In addition to the various ministries, there are also
numerous
autonomous and semiautonomous state entities within the
executive
branch, which have increased in number over the years as
the
government has become more involved in the economic
development
process and the provision of basic services. These
decentralized
institutions vary in their composition, structure, and
function,
but include three basic types: public institutes, which
are largely
government-funded and perform social or collective
services that
are not usually provided by the private sector; public
enterprises,
which often have their own resource bases and are
autonomous organs
of the state; and mixed enterprises, which bring together
the
government and private sector, with the state retaining at
least a
51 percent share of the enterprise. Among the best known
decentralized agencies in Honduras are the National
Autonomous
University of Honduras (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
Honduras--
UNAH); the Central Bank of Honduras (Banco Central de
Honduras);
the National Agrarian Institute (Instituto Nacional
Agrario--INA);
the Honduran Banana Corporation (Corporación Hondureña de
Bananas);
the Honduran Forestry Development Corporation (Corporación
Hondureña de Desarrollo Forestal--Cohdefor); the Honduran
Coffee
Institute (Corporación Hondureña deCafe); the Honduran
Social
Security Institute (Instituto Hondureño de Seguro
Social--IHSS);
the National Council of Social Welfare (Consejo Nacional
de
Bienestar Social); and the National Electric Energy
Enterprise
(Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica).
Data as of December 1993
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