🔗 Share this article Presidential Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Manipulated' The atmosphere has been tense as the lead changed hands several times. The centrist candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the Central American nation. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has yet to announce a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "This is theft." The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be invalidated and alleged US interference by Trump in the election. Narrow Results and Growing Frustration 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 National Electoral Council's (CNE) update. Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end. Officials from the CNE attributed the delays to "IT issues." They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be examined. Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly 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 throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results," 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 conspiring to import cocaine. His clemency and freedom has stunned Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US. Rising Tensions and Claims of Meddling Meanwhile, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly. Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past 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 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 announce a victor.