Honduran Candidate Alleges Vote Has Been 'Stolen'
The centrist candidate in Honduras's tightly contested 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 most recent tally 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, stated 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 Unrest
With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update.
Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end.
Officials from the CNE attributed the delays to "technical problems."
They have also cautioned that numerous voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be examined.
Trump's Endorsement and Controversial Pardon
The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Just days before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "We can work together to fight the Narcocommunists."
"We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but we will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," 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 trafficking cocaine.
His pardon and subsequent release has stunned Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.
Rising Tensions and Claims of Meddling
Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.
Trump claimed the CNE of "trying to change" 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 moved in 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 take to the streets against what it called "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States."
Nasralla blamed 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.
