Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Sunday was declared the winner of the nation’s disputed election, but that did little to quell unrest from weeks of uncertainty as challenger Salvador Nasralla called for more protests yesterday and the Organization of American States (OAS) proposed holding the vote again.
The OAS, which sent election observers to the country, issued a statement saying it was impossible to determine the outcome with enough certainty due to irregularities, including “deliberate human intrusions into the computer system, intentional elimination of digital traces,” opened ballot boxes and “extreme statistical improbability regarding levels of participation within the same department,” combined with the narrow vote differential.
“The only possible path for the winner to be the Honduran people is a new call for general elections... Respecting democratic values and citizens is the necessary road to safeguard society from death and violence,” the OAS said.
Photo: Reuters
“The Honduran people deserve an electoral exercise that offers democratic quality and guarantees. The electoral cycle that the [Supreme Electoral Tribunal] gave as concluded today has clearly not been that,” it added.
Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal President David Matamoros on Sunday evening announced that Hernandez had won, saying: “We have fulfilled our obligation [and] we wish for there to be peace in our country.”
According to the court’s official count, Hernandez won with 42.95 percent to 41.42 for Nasralla, who well before the announcement had challenged the result and said he would not recognize it.
There were reports of nighttime demonstrations on main boulevards in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and other cities, and Nasralla’s party called for more protests yesterday.
At least 17 people have died in violent street clashes since the Nov. 26 election.
There was no immediate public comment by Hernandez, whose sister, Hilda Hernandez, a Cabinet minister, died on Saturday in a helicopter crash.
Earlier in the day, Nasralla traveled to Washington to present what he called “numerous” examples of evidence of alleged fraud.
He said he planned to meet with officials from the OAS, the US Department of State and human rights groups.
Interviewed by UneTV during a layover at Miami airport, Nasralla called Hernandez’s re-election illegitimate and said he would ask the OAS to invoke its democratic charter against Honduras.
“The declaration by the court is a mockery because it tramples the will of the people,” Nasralla said.
He added that he was “very optimistic” because “the people do not endorse fraud.”
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