The Honduran presidential election tests the patience of international observers, who demand an end to the call. Both the Organization of American States (OAS) and the US Government demanded that a slow process full of interruptions be ended “as soon as possible,” which keeps Hondurans mired in uncertainty.
The Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, issued a “” this Monday to the electoral authorities to conclude the scrutiny, while Washington continues the delay. So far, with 99.9% of the minutes counted, the conservative Nasry Asfura, supported by Donald Trump, maintains a minimal advantage (40.34% of support) over the liberal Salvador Nasralla (39.4%), who has denounced that “a fraud” took place in the elections.
Ramdin made his call after a chaotic weekend in the scrutiny, with several interruptions and constant attacks from the three members who head the National Electoral Council (CNE) and who represent the main political parties: Ana Paola Hall, of the Liberal Party; Cossette López, from the National Party; Marlon Ochoa, from the ruling Libre party.
“The General Secretariat of the OAS Organization urgently calls on the electoral authorities of Honduras to conclude the scrutiny as soon as possible, in strict accordance with the law and with full guarantees for all political and social actors,” Ramdin demanded. “This process must comply with its constitutional obligation, ensuring that the will of the Honduran people to elect who will occupy the presidency is fully respected. Likewise, we urge all political actors in Honduras to act with responsibility and respect for the popular will, guaranteeing stability and peace for all citizens throughout the country,” added the diplomat.
Washington has also raised the tone in its demands and through the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs has warned of “consequences” if the electoral authorities do not complete the process and name a winner of the November 30 elections. “It is deeply worrying to see how certain parties and candidates continue to disrupt the Honduran electoral process. It is imperative that those participating fulfill their obligations in a timely manner so that the CNE can finalize the official results. Anyone who obstructs or attempts to delay the work of the CNE will face consequences. The Honduran people have waited too long. They deserve a timely, transparent and credible process,” the organization warned.
Honduras, which had a massive participation of the electorate. The minimal difference in votes between Asfura and Nasralla has led the CNE to organize a scrutiny of 2,792 electoral records that presented inconsistencies in the preliminary count, but the process, which should have started on December 13, has experienced delays that have raised suspicions among the candidates and exhausted the patience of international observers. Nasralla accused the former president on Monday of organizing “fraud” in the elections and accused the electoral advisors of “receiving instructions from organized crime.” Hernández was pardoned by Trump after being sentenced to 45 years in prison for links to drug trafficking. “I do not belong to organized crime, I am not part of drug trafficking. This fraud was not only concocted by the nationalists [en alusión al Partido Nacional, de derechas] that they are candidates, was forged from the Indian States by their leader, who is Juan Orlando Hernández. He is the one behind all this,” Nasralla accused.
The continuous accusations between the members of the electoral body – which does not have party independence – have made the flame of chaos burn brighter. The ruling party Ochoa has accused his opposition colleagues of delaying the process due to “coercion” from their parties. “For around 10 days they have not attended the CNE facilities in person and their letters are sent with a seal, without their signature, so we assume that they are detained and under duress, we do not know under what conditions,” the official ironically stated. Ochoa supports the position of his party leaders, who accuse fraud in the elections. “They are not going to force me to validate any fraudulent election, not even at the point of a bullet, and what is clear is that the November 30 election is the dirtiest in the history of this country. The people appointed me, not any foreign government,” he told the local press in reference to Trump’s intervention in the elections.
Their colleagues, the liberal Hall and the conservative López, denounced on Monday that they are victims of “obvious political persecution” by the Government of President Xiomara Castro to prevent them from officially declaring a winner of the elections. “Our current situation responds exclusively to the obvious political persecution of which we are victims by those who do not want elections to be declared. The entire institutional framework of the State has been used with the sole interest of ensuring that the alternation in the Presidency, respect for the democratic process and the sovereignty of the people is not fulfilled,” both officials denounced. In a move that for the opposition shows the instrumentalization of state institutions, the Honduran Attorney General’s Office or personal exhibition of the officials “due to lack of knowledge of the whereabouts and possible illegitimate detention.” The organization justifies the measure so that the justice system “immediately” verifies the situation of the counselors.
Meanwhile, voices from civil society and academia have called for restraint, an end to scrutiny, and have criticized elections marred by the clumsiness in counting the results. “After these elections, we have to reflect deeply on the political model that is clearly outdated and decadent,” said Alex Navas, an academic at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) and former member of the failed Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). “To begin with, profound reforms must be made in the nomination of CNE councilors. This plenary session failed the country miserably,” he said about the electoral body. “This has been the most questioned and flawed electoral process since the return to democracy. The only way to give it some credibility is to open all the contested ballot boxes and count vote by vote. It is the only way to stop an unprecedented crisis,” he recommended.
