Presidential Contender Claims Election Has Been 'Manipulated'
The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the country.
Nine days after the election, the election authority has yet to announce a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead.
Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "They have stolen it."
The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be invalidated and accused Trump of the election.
Narrow Results and Growing Frustration
With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with 19.32%, according to the election body's update.
Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods.
Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems."
They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be reviewed.
Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon
The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Just days before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers."
"We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added.
In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who stems from the same party as Asfura.
Hernández was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine.
His clemency and freedom has shocked Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.
Rising Tensions and Allegations of Interference
At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.
Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla overtook Asfura early on.
"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without offering proof of any fraud.
Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in the lead, it has been his two rivals alleging misconduct.
Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "complete cancellation" of the elections.
It also urged its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States."
Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process."
According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.
