🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Rigged' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the country. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has yet to announce 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 dropping into second place, stated on social media: "This is a robbery." The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and alleged US interference by Trump in the election. Close Results and Growing Unrest With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with 19.32%, according to the election body's update. Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end. Representatives of the CNE attributed the delays to "IT issues." They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be examined. Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon The run-up to the election was dominated by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "We 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 poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added. In a surprise move 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 conspiring to import cocaine. His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US. Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling At the same time, 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 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 "complete cancellation" 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 "delaying the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.