Marches back Honduras president in drawn-out, contested election
Tegucigalpa, (MILLAT ONLINE):Thousands of supporters of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez marched on Thursday to back his claim of victory in a strangely drawn-out election that the opposition says was rigged.
But his leftwing rival, former TV president Salvador Nasralla, maintained he won the November 26 poll and is demanding a full recount supervised by foreign officials from the Organization of American States or the European Union.
Nasralla supporters blocked some access roads in the capital to press their candidate’s case.
The country’s electoral authority has still not declared a winner, even though the final count was given as 42.98 percent for Hernandez and 41.38 percent for Nasralla. It says it is waiting to see if any appeals are lodged before the end of this month.
Meanwhile, the small Central American nation of 10 million remains under a state of emergency to quell anti-Hernandez protests that turned violent, with at least one death reported.
Police who briefly refused to enforce the state of emergency’s nighttime curfew are back on the job after a one-day strike that finished Tuesday. But they say they won’t repress legitimate protesters demonstrating against Hernandez.