Honduran Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Rigged'
The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the country.
Nine days after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.
Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, declared on social media: "They have stolen it."
The progressive hopeful placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election.
Narrow Results and Growing Unrest
With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, per the election body's update.
Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods.
Officials from the CNE blamed "IT issues."
They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be reviewed.
Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon
The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Shortly before the vote, Trump backed 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 we 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 pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.
Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference
Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.
Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on.
"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.
Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura took 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 pointed the finger at unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process."
Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.
