Presidential Candidate Alleges Vote Has Been 'Stolen'
The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" 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 endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.
Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before dropping into second place, stated on social media: "This is a robbery."
The progressive hopeful placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election.
Narrow Results and Growing Unrest
With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update.
Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods.
Representatives of the CNE blamed "system glitches."
They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed.
Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon
The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists."
"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but we will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results," 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 in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine.
His pardon and subsequent release has stunned Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.
Rising Tensions and Claims 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 overtook Asfura early on.
"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without offering proof of any fraud.
Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura took the lead, it has been his two rivals crying foul.
Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "the total annulment" of the elections.
It also called on 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 "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process."
According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.
