Honduras opposition demands annulment of president’s re-election

TEGUCIGALPA: The Honduras opposition said Wednesday they filed an appeal with election officials demanding that President Juan Orlando Hernandez’s re-election be annulled because the recent vote was marred by fraud.

Election officials declared Hernandez the victor after narrowly defeating leftist opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla in the controversial Nov26 vote.

Nasralla conceded on Dec 22 shortly after Honduras’ key ally Washington endorsed Hernandez’s re-election, following a month of deadly street clashes.

Former president Manuel Zelaya, coordinator of the leftist alliance opposed to Hernandez, filed the appeal with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal late Tuesday.

Zelaya, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2009, cited ‘the fraud in the vote counting, the alteration and falsification of precinct vote results’ among other irregularities that resulted in Hernandez’s triumph over Nasralla, the ‘legitimate victor.’

Early vote returns in the November election showed a strong Nasralla victory, but vote counting then slowed down and took more than a week to complete, with mysterious breaks in the process.

The Honduran Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rejected a demand from the Organisation of American States (OAS) for a fresh election and for permission to send a team to investigate the deaths of at least 12 protesters killed during the demonstrations.

‘The government of Honduras does not accept the request’ and rejects any ‘interference,’ the ministry said in a statement.

International monitors from both the OAS and the European Union noted irregularities in the election process, which the former said had been of ‘poor quality.’ — AFP