Left-wing opposition in Honduras is demanding a presidential election that was held two weeks ago be rejected and the results voided. The left-wing opposition cited the results were "rigged" in favor of incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Hernandez's chief rival in the election was Salvador Nasralla, a candidate backed by the Alliance Against the Dictatorship coalition, asked the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to declare the vote void on Friday. Hernandez and Nasralla both claimed to have won the election after the November 26 vote.
The electoral tribunal themselves released complete results that show Hernandez won by a slim margin even though Nasralla had an early lead but have not declared an official winner. The total count released by the Tribunal put Hernandez at 42.98% and Nasralla at 41.38% but also said that result may still be appealed.
The country of Honduras is in Central America with a population of around 10 million who are all puzzled over who the next president really is. There have been violent outbursts throughout the nation prompting Hernandez to issue a state of emergency with a curfew.
Police have apparently said they will not stop the anti-Hernandez protests causing Amnesty International to denounce their "dangerous and illegal tactics." Around 14 people have been killed since the election but no confirmation from officials has verified the death count.
64-year-old Nasralla says the vote was "rigged" to prevent him from winning when he thinks the outcome was obvious saying, "This is a process where there is robbery on all sides." At first, Nasralla ordered a partial recount but when his opposition suggested scrapping the trial altogether he demanded a full recount.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal started a partial recount but no observers from the opposite side took part making the results as useless to Nasralla's camp as the original count. It is easy to understand why the opposition is upset with Hernandez since the Honduras' constitution calls for no more than one term per president.
The political unrest prompted the US State Department to issue an alert Wednesday warning US citizens to avoid traveling to the country because of rioting, looting and an overall hostile atmosphere since the election.
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Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20171209-honduras-opposition-demands-rigged-vote-be-canceled-0
