Trump-backed candidate leads in Honduras amid call for recount
The result of the Honduran presidential election remains in limbo over a week after voting amid allegations that electoral irregularities and technical issues have distorted the counting process.
Tegucigalpa (dpa/DNA) – Days after Honduras' closely contested presidential election took place, vote counting has entered a crucial stage amid claims of manipulation.
While the two candidates continue to compete for first place, separated by only a small margin, the National Electoral Council is set to initiate a special review of tally sheets displaying inconsistencies.
Partial re-count ordered
A total of more than 2,700 tally sheets containing some 550,000 votes must be recounted.
Preliminary counting of 99.40 per cent of the votes so far has put right-wing candidate Nasry 'Tito' Asfura, backed by US President Donald Trump, in first place with 40.52 per cent of the votes.
In second place with 39.20 percent is Salvador Nasralla, a television presenter from the centre-right Liberal Party. In third place is Rixi Moncada, the leftist candidate from the ruling Libre party, with 19.29 percent.There is a difference of only 42,000 votes.
Allegation of manipulation
Asfura and Nasralla are separated by only 1.32 percentage points. This equates to just 42,000 votes out of a total of 3.5 million cast on 30 November. In addition, continuous interruptions to the electronic data transmission system have led to mistrust and allegations of result manipulation.
On Tuesday, Nasralla demanded that all paper records be reviewed and that each vote be recounted in the event of discrepancies. He claims the private company in charge of the computerised preliminary results system is favouring Asfura's National Party.
'The only way to restore certainty to this process is to scrutinise the records physically and legally. There is no room for computer manipulation or interpretation,” Nasralla told reporters. '
"The records are the truth, and that truth must prevail over any system failure." The Liberal candidate did not rule out mobilising his supporters to take to the streets in protest against what he considers to be electoral fraud.
Leftist President condemns "electoral coup"
On Tuesday, the Head of State, Xiomara Castro, condemned President Trump's 'interference'. A few days before the election, the US President called on people to vote for Asfura, the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, the capital city, saying that the United States would otherwise withdraw its support for Honduras.
"These threats constitute a direct attack on the will of the people," Castro said at the inauguration of the House of Justice in the east of the country. "We are experiencing a process marked by threats, coercion, manipulation of the results system and distortion of the will of the people," she said.
She added that her government would denounce the "ongoing electoral coup" to international organisations. The ruling party has called for the elections to be annulled.Poverty and organized crimeWith a population of around 11 million, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America.
Honduras also faces problems with organised crime. Its recent political history has been marked by political crises. In 2009, President Manuel Zelaya, the husband of the current president Castro, was ousted in a coup. In 2017, protests broke out after a disputed election was won by National Party candidate Juan Orlando Hernández over Nasralla, leaving more than 20 people dead.