TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – An extended hold-up within the vote rely for Sunday’s Honduran presidential election stored the Central American nation in suspense going into Tuesday simply because it appeared that leftist candidate Xiomara Castro had secured a commanding victory.
After racking up an virtually 20 share level lead over her nearest rival with greater than half the vote tallied, Castro and her supporters needed to sit and wait after the rely unexpectedly halted close to dawn the day after the election.
If confirmed because the winner, Castro could be Honduras’ first girl president, and return the left to energy after a 12-year hiatus that adopted the ousting of her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, in a coup in 2009.
“I’d hope there is not a maintain up of many days,” Luis Guillermo Solis, the chief of the Group of American States’ (OAS) election observer mission, instructed Reuters.
The delay within the rely has stirred up reminiscences of the 2017 election, when the opposition candidate’s lead instantly started to evaporate after the electoral council restarted the tally following a prolonged suspension within the course of.
That gave rise to accusations of fraud and lethal protests, however there was no unrest thus far, with voters seeing Castro’s a lot greater lead this time as a assure of victory.
The election within the impoverished nation is the newest political showdown in Central America, the place power joblessness, crime, corruption and the specter of transnational drug gangs has helped spur file migration to the US.
Earlier than the vote rely halted, Castro had gained practically 54% of the nationwide tally, with the ruling Nationwide Celebration’s candidate Nasry Asfura a distant second at 34%.
Castro on Twitter celebrated a “resounding victory in the entire nation” after her supporters had danced, cheered and waved flags to have fun the approaching departure of two-time incumbent, conservative president Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Hernandez is deeply unpopular and has been implicated in a drug trafficking case in a U.S. federal court docket. He denies wrongdoing, however might face an indictment when he leaves workplace.
OAS mission chief Solis, a former president of Costa Rica, stated he anticipated the electoral council to clear up the rely quickly, and famous rural votes typically take longer to tally.
He pointed to Sunday’s historic turnout and Monday’s absence of political violence as constructive developments, and stated that early congratulations for Castro from sectors past her base of assist corresponding to enterprise leaders had been welcome developments.
“I’ve seen public statements from a number of key sectors who’ve acknowledged the triumph of Libre,” he stated, referring to the lead amassed by Castro’s leftist occasion.
“However I feel we’re nonetheless lacking paperwork and vote totals to scrutinize,” he added.
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Gustavo Palencia; Modifying by Jacqueline Wong)
