🔗 Share this article Presidential Candidate Claims Election Has Been 'Stolen' The atmosphere has been tense as the lead changed hands several times. The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the country. Over a week after the election, the election authority 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 narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on 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. Close Results and Growing Frustration With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with 39.16% 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. Representatives of the CNE blamed "technical problems." They have also cautioned that numerous voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "We can work together to fight the Narcocommunists." "Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be wasting resources, because a wrong Leader can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added. In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to 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 trafficking cocaine. His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times. Trump accused 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 "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States." Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.