By Laura Garcia
TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Officials of a Honduras Congress panel threatened on Wednesday not to validate the result of a Nov. 30 presidential election, citing an “electoral coup” and “interference” by U.S. President Donald Trump, as counting stretched into an 11th day.
While the ruling LIBRE leftist party has no chance of winning the election, it is throwing its support behind Salvador Nasralla, of the center-right Liberal party, who has also alleged fraud and said he has won the election.
It is unclear if Wednesday’s declaration by the permanent commission of Congress, which escalates the election crisis, could be enough to annul the results, which must be validated by two of the three members of the National Electoral Council.
“We denounce the existence of an ongoing electoral coup,” the commission said in a statement, adding, “We absolutely condemn the interference of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.”
Honduras’ Congress would only become involved if a majority of Council members refuse to validate the result by Dec. 30, however, said Henry Salinas, a lawyer and political analyst based in Tegucigalpa.
“The government’s only recourse is to demonize the process, but for the moment they have no say in the matter,” Salinas said. “The ball is in the National Electoral Council’s court.”
Still, the development added fuel to a combustible situation after the latest results update on Tuesday.
With more than 99% of ballots counted, conservative Nasry Asfura of the National Party was about 40,000 votes ahead of Nasralla of the Liberal Party, while LIBRE candidate Rixi Moncada was a distant third.
But inconsistencies in roughly 15% of the tally sheets require further review, heightening the political suspense, as those could be sufficient to sway the election outcome.
The chaotic and delayed reporting process of the results has spurred claims of fraud, including those by President Xiomara Castro of LIBRE.
Hundreds of demonstrators wearing red, the color of her party, spilled into the streets of the capital, Tegucigalpa, on Wednesday to demand a rerun of the poll.
Even as votes were still being counted, U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced support for Asfura, saying there would be “hell to pay” if Honduras changed preliminary results that put him in the lead.
On the eve of the elections, Trump had announced a pardon for former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, of Asfura’s National Party, who was released from a 45-year jail term in the United States for drug trafficking and weapons charges.
The electoral mission of the Organization of American States called on Tuesday for the count to be speeded up, as well as for maximum transparency.
“It is essential that the CNE can carry out its work without pressure,” it said in a statement, referring to the National Electoral Council.
“The OAS mission rejects any call to disturb public order that could compromise the remaining stages of the electoral process,” it added on social media.
(Reporting by Laura Garcia in Tegucigalpa and Diego Ore in Mexico City; Editing by Emily Green and Clarence Fernandez)
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