Honduran Candidate Claims Election Has Been 'Stolen'
The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating the vote count in the Central American nation.
Over a week after the election, the electoral council has yet to announce a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.
Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, stated on social media: "They have stolen it."
The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled 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 39.16% and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the election body's update.
Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for extended periods.
Representatives of the CNE blamed "IT issues."
They have also warned that numerous voting records with "irregularities" still need to be examined.
Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon
The run-up to the election was dominated 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 "We can work together to fight the drug traffickers."
"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be wasting resources, because a wrong Leader can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added.
In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also pardoned jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is 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.
Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference
At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.
Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on.
"If they do, there will be hell to pay," the US president said without offering proof of any fraud.
Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura took the lead, it has been his two rivals crying foul.
Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "complete cancellation" of the elections.
It also called on its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."
Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process."
Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.
