Honduran right-wing candidates, Nasri Asfoura, for the National Party, and Salvador Nasralla, for the Liberal Party, lead the initial vote count in the presidential elections taking place on Sunday, while the left-wing candidate, Rexy Moncada, for the ruling Liberation Party, comes in third place by a large margin.
The first official publication of the results came from the National Electoral Center (CNE), at around 11pm. (6 a.m. on Monday in Spain) After examining 34.25% of the votes, Asfoura was placed in the lead with 40.62%, followed by Nasrallah with 38.78%. Moncada, from the Free Party, trailed behind with 19.60%.
This election, which took place without major incident, was conducted in a context of increasing polarization, mutual accusations of electoral fraud, and the rise of Donald Trump. He urged the American President to vote for the conservative candidate, Nasri Asfoura, warning of what he called “the advance of communism,” pointing out that if Asfoura did not win, “the United States will not waste its money.”
Uncertainty persists
The result was greeted with euphoria in the electoral bunkers of the Conservatives and Liberals and with skepticism among the Liberal ranks. “Grateful to the Libre Party and our people, who turned out en masse to vote on my proposal for economic and democratic reform. Tomorrow at a press conference, I will announce my position regarding the results published by the National Electoral Commission,” said the official candidate, Rexy Moncada, in a short message on the social network X, who aspires to continue the four-year government of progressive Chiomara Castro.
If the election results are confirmed, this would mean burying the ambition of the Honduran left to re-establish the government after what its ranks describe as more than a century of partnership between the two parties and twelve years of dictatorship.
Manuel “Mel” Zelaya, the former liberal president of Honduras who created the Libre party after it suffered a coup in 2009, avoided commenting on the results and called on his followers to guarantee the outcome. “The request to remain in the fight until we have the final 100% audit of the presidential, municipal and prosecutorial records of our candidate Rexy Moncada, is moral, patriotic and linked to the complete truth that the people ordered to the ballot boxes and which we cannot ignore,” he posted in X.
The National Party environment confirmed that Asfora, the former mayor of Tegucigalpa and a construction businessman, will not speak publicly until the audit progresses further. But they from the conservative formation were confident of victory and repeated their gratitude to US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Miley for their popular support.
In turn, the liberal candidate, the eccentric TV broadcaster Salvador Nasrallah, stressed that the difference separating him from the presidency is not important. He said that “23 thousand votes are practically nothing,” after confirming that the majority of the minutes that will be counted will be in favor of his candidacy. “We will declare ourselves winners the moment the National Electoral Council begins to show a trend in our favor tomorrow, December 1,” he said.
In statements to the press after learning of the first progress, Nasrallah confirmed that “several foreign investors are contacting him” with the aim of settling in Honduras after his victory. In addition, he confirmed that all members of his party who accompanied the audit “will be rewarded” with “job opportunities” if he reaches the government.
Furthermore, Nasrallah emphasized that if he reaches the government, “the relationship with the United States and Taiwan will be very good,” an important statement considering that Xiomara Castro’s CEO cut ties with Taipei and recognized the People’s Republic of China in 2022. He also stated that he would cut diplomatic relations with Venezuela if Nicolás Maduro remained in power.
Polarization and mistrust
Both Nasrallah and Asfora—candidates from Honduras’ bipartisan parties, which have alternated in power in the country for more than a century—describe the free ruler as a “communist” who seeks to subject the country to a “Venezuelan drug dictatorship.” Moncada, on the other hand, accused his rivals of acting as “puppets of the oligarchy” and promised that, in the face of the “model minority”, he would promote a “social-democratic” government aimed at “democratizing the economy.”
Doubts increased about the integrity of the vote counting in the final stage of the elections. CNE delayed the release of preliminary results by more than two hours and announced it would not make any further updates during the early hours of Monday. The three main candidates expressed their alarm over the delay and demanded clarifications from the authorities.
Mistrust towards the Electoral College has grown since the end of October, with nearly two dozen audio recordings circulating that include a representative of the National Party appearing before the National Electoral Commission, a representative of the same party and a military officer active in an alleged plan to tamper with the results. Despite everything, Election Day passed without significant incidents, despite a strong military deployment.