The newly elected Honduran President of the Congress Juan Orlando Hernandez has taken office at a preparatory meeting for the new National Congress over the weekend.

Hernandez was elected as the president of the Congress for the coming four years last Thursday.

Hernandez, a four-time congress deputy, was born in Lempira province of western Honduras.

During the preparatory meeting, six vice presidents and two secretaries of the new National Congress were also elected.

As scheduled, the new congress is to hold the first plenary session on Monday and will appoint Honduran President-elect Porfirio Lobo Sosa as president of the country.

On June 28, 2009, former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a military coup and the then legislature leader, Roberto Micheletti, became interim president.

The Honduran Congress voted against the reinstatement of Zelaya after Porfirio Lobo won the presidential vote on Nov. 29, which was boycotted by Zelaya and slammed as illegitimate by Brazil and Venezuela.

But the United States and Mexico viewed the election as a way to move forward.

Zelaya, who was forced to exile in Costa Rica, sneaked back into Honduras in late September and has been taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy.