Honduran navy vows to make sure orderly post-election energy switch | Elections Information

Army says that it’ll help the outcomes of the election, mired in contested claims and fraud allegations.

The Honduran navy has stepped into the chaotic aftermath of the nation’s election, saying it’ll make sure the switch of energy is carried out as soon as a winner is asserted.

Armed forces chief Roosevelt Hernandez stated on Wednesday that the navy, which carried out a coup in 2009 and has a historical past of intervening in elections, would assure that the outcomes have been honoured.

“We’ve been clear,” Hernandez stated on Wednesday. “We’ve stated we are going to help and recognise the outcomes.”

The Honduran election has been mired by allegations of fraud and impropriety by varied events, in addition to United States President Donald Trump’s suggestion earlier than voting that US funding for the nation can be lower if anybody however his most well-liked candidate received.

President Xiomara Castro denounced what she referred to as an “electoral coup” on Tuesday, citing irregularities and allegations of fraud throughout voting. Earlier than the election, political opponents additionally accused the federal government, helmed by Castro and her left-leaning Libre Celebration, of intimidating election authorities.

Preliminary outcomes present Rixi Moncada, Libre’s presidential candidate, trailing far behind centre-right Salvador Nasralla and Trump-backed Nasry Asfura, who at the moment leads by a small margin of about 40,000 votes, or about 1.32 p.c.

Outcomes have but to be finalised, and Moncada has stated that she won’t recognise the end result as professional. Nasralla has additionally condemned Trump’s intervention earlier than the election, saying that the US chief’s risk that ties with Honduras would undergo if Nasralla received, value him votes.

Technical points skilled throughout the counting course of by the Nationwide Electoral Council (CNE) have additionally added to the uncertainty, and CNE chief Ana Paola Corridor requested the navy to deploy forces exterior of buildings the place ballots are being saved.

Protests looking for readability on the end result of voting have remained peaceable, however tensions stay excessive, stoked by reminiscences of earlier flawed elections and violent repression following the 2009 coup.

Civil society teams have urged calm and persistence.