🔗 Share this article

The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating the vote count in the country.

Nine days after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead.

Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery."

The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be invalidated and alleged US interference by Trump in the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Unrest

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with 19.32%, 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.

Officials from the CNE attributed the delays to "system glitches."

They have also warned 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.

Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers."

"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but we will not be wasting resources, because a poor choice 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 in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine.

His pardon and subsequent release has stunned Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US.

Mounting Tensions and Claims of Interference

Meanwhile, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.

Trump accused the CNE of "trying to change" the outcome when Nasralla overtook Asfura early on.

"If they do, there will be hell to pay," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.

Since the moment 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 "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 announce a victor.