🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Claims Election Has Been 'Manipulated' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The moderate candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating the vote count in the country. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before falling to second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery." The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded 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 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, according to the election body's update. Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end. Representatives of the CNE attributed the delays to "technical problems." They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "inconsistencies" 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 threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "We can work together to fight the Narcocommunists." "We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but the United States 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 serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine. His pardon and subsequent release has stunned Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Mounting 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 pulled past Asfura early on. "If they do, there will be hell to pay," the US president said without offering proof of any fraud. Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in 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 "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States." Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.