Honduras on knife edge as count says President Hernandez got more votes in 'stolen' election
TV star turned opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla has accused Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez's government of trying to steal the election.
Political crisis in Honduras following presidential electionNewsweek
Honduras is braced for more violent protests as it prepares to declare the winner of a presidential election mired in accusations of vote count fraud. Opposition supporters are expected to flood the streets if – as looks likely – the incumbent president is handed a second term on Monday (4 December). The opposition candidate has accused the government of trying to steal the election.
Honduran electoral authorities restarted the long-delayed and much-disputed count of ballots on Sunday. As night fell, the sound of plastic horns, honking cars, fireworks and beaten saucepans echoed over the capital Tegucigalpa, as voters defied a military curfew imposed to clamp down on protests that have spread around the country.
Supporters of Salvador Nasralla bang pots during a curfew in TegucigalpaEdgard Garrido/Reuters
Both the government and the opposition claimed victory in the election, which was held on 26 November. With nearly two-thirds of the vote tallied, it looked as if TV star turned opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla had pulled off an upset victory over President Juan Orlando Hernandez, as he gained a five point lead.
But after a pause of more than a day, the sporadic vote count started leaning in favour of the incumbent. "It was a gigantic change," said Mark Weisbrot from the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research. "The chance of this occurring, had the first 57 percent been drawn as a random sample of tally sheets, is next to impossible." Officials blamed the pause on technical problems and denied any manipulation.
Violent protests erupted in the capital and in other cities around the country after the tally stalled without a clear winner. Clashes between protesters and troops have killed at least three people, with unconfirmed reports of another four or five. Honduras' national police force said a 19-year-old woman was shot to death at a pro-Nasralla protest on Friday by gunmen who witnesses said were police. The national police force said it was investigating the attack. Witnesses and opposition activists claim at least five other people have been killed at protests nationwide.
The government imposed a 10-day curfew of 6pm to 6am in an attempt to quell demonstrations, but angry citizens have defied the order to stay off the streets.
Supporters of opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla clash with riot police in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberEdgard Garrido/ReutersStone-throwing opposition supporters face off with soldiers and police in riot gear near the Electoral Supreme Court in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberOrlando Sierra/AFPRiot police fire tear gas toward supporters of Salvador Nasralla during a protest in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberJorge Cabrera/ReutersA supporter of Salvador Nasralla walks amid clouds of tear gas during a protest in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberJorge Cabrera/ReutersMilitary policemen react as a tear gas canister is thrown back by a protester in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberJorge Cabrera/ReutersSupporters of Salvador Nasralla prepare to fire an improvised weapon during clashes with soldiers and riot police near the Electoral Supreme Court in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberOrlando Sierra/AFPRiot police use their shields to protect themselves from stones thrown by opposition supporters in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberEdgard Garrido/ReutersOpposition supporters clash with the police near the Electoral Supreme Court in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberRodrigo Arangua/AFPA supporter of opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla receives attention after being injured during clashes with the police near the Electoral Supreme Court in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberRodrigo Arangua/AFPA protester stands next to graffiti reading 'Dictator Out' during clashes with the police near the Electoral Supreme Court in Tegucigalpa on 30 NovemberOrlando Sierra/AFPA supporter of presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla holds a Molotov cocktail during a protest in the Villanueva neighbourhood of Tegucigalpa on 1 DecemberEdgard Garrido/ReutersA supporter of Salvador Nasralla stands near a burning barricade on a road in Tegucigalpa on 1 DecemberJorge Cabrera/ReutersA family runs away from tear gas during clashes between supporters of Salvador Nasralla and police in the city of San Pedro Sula on 1 DecemberMoises Ayala/ReutersPolice help a pedestrian overcome by tear gas during clashes in San Pedro Sula on 1 DecemberMoises Ayala/ReutersA man on a motorbike carries a mattress looted from a shop during protests in the city of San Pedro Sula on 1 DecemberJordan Perdomo/AFPA man carries a TV set looted from a shop during protests in the city of San Pedro Sula on 1 DecemberJordan Perdomo/AFPA car set on fire by opposition supporters is used to barricade a road in the city of San Pedro Sula, northern Honduras, on 1 DecemberJordan Perdomo/AFPA man crosses a bridge in Tegucigalpa with the word 'Fraudulent' spray-painted on it on 2 December, the day after the Honduran government declared a state of emergency and imposed a 10-day curfew in an attempt to stop violent demonstrations across the countryOrlando Sierra/AFPRelatives of Kimberly Fonseca, 19, who was shot during a protest, carry her coffin in the Villanueva neighbourhood of Tegucigalpa on 2 DecemberEdgard Garrido/Reuters
The electoral tribunal, which is led by a member of Hernandez's party, reopened the tallying of votes from 1,031 ballot boxes in which inaccuracies were detected. When the count finally came to an end on Monday, President Hernandez had a lead of more than 52,000 votes, giving him 43 percent of the vote, with Nasralla on 41.4 percent, according to the latest results published on the electoral tribunal's website.
Tribunal president David Matamoros said 100 percent of the ballots had been tabulated but the court was not declaring a winner yet. "We will do that later," Matamoros said, adding that parties will have 10 days to challenge the results.
Nasralla is calling for a re-do of the entire vote. Nasralla told a rally in the capital, Tegucigalpa, that the magistrates of the electoral tribunal "are employees of President (Juan Orlando) Hernandez," who ran for re-election despite a constitutional ban on doing so. "The tribunal is not an independent organism and as such is neither credible nor trustworthy for the people," he said.
Thousands of opposition supporters take part in a demonstration claiming that Salvador Nasralla won the elections, near the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Tegucigalpa on 3 DecemberOrlando Sierra/AFPSalvador Nasralla, candidate for Honduras' Opposition Alliance against the Dictatorship, gives a speech to thousands of supporters taking part in a demonstration near the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Tegucigalpa on 3 DecemberOrlando Sierra/AFPSupporters of Salvador Nasralla bang pots in protest in Tegucigalpa on 3 DecemberHenry Romero/ReutersSoldiers and police block the road near the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Tegucigalpa as thousands of opposition supporters hold a protest march on 3 DecemberOrlando Sierra/AFPAn opposition supporter ties a balloon onto a soldier's riot shield in Tegucigalpa on 3 DecemberEdgard Garrido/ReutersA soldier stands behind his riot shield, decorated with a flower by a supporter of Salvador Nasralla, in Tegucigalpa on 3 DecemberEdgard Garrido/Reuters
Nasralla also called on the armed forces to rebel against orders to enforce the curfew, and encouraged supporters to walk out on a national strike starting on Monday (4 December). "I call on all members of the armed forces to rebel against your bosses," Nasralla told a cheering throng of supporters who booed nearby troops. "You all over there, you shouldn't be there, you should be part of the people."
This article was first published
on December 4, 2017