National Electoral Council is proceeding with the recount of the tally sheets with inconsistencies. | Photo: Noticias Honduras

Tegucigalpa, March 29 (RHC)-- The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Honduras has concluded the scrutiny of the primary and internal elections of three political parties of the Central American nation, held last March 14th.

According to data released so far by the CNE, Nasry Asfura (National Party), Xiomara Castro (Libertad y Refundación, Libre) and Yani Rosenthal (Liberal Party) continue to lead as virtual candidates for the presidency of the country for the general elections of next November 28.

Asfura, who has been mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa since 2014, reached 579,764 votes, while Xiomara Castro (wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, ousted by a coup d'état in June 2009) obtained 332,158 votes.

On the other hand, a total of 286,630 votes were obtained by Yani Rosenthal, former Minister of the Presidency who returned to the country in August 2020, after spending three years in prison in the United States, following a trial for money laundering linked to drug trafficking.

These three political actors, in turn, overcame other aspirants of their respective parties for the presidential candidacy.  Although the elections took place in a normal atmosphere with few incidents, the CNE has been criticized for the delay in releasing the first results (three days after the voting).

It also transpired that a total of 14,083 electoral reports are subject to a special scrutiny due to alleged irregularities.  These minutes are distributed among the three parties mentioned above and correspond to candidacies for the Presidency, Deputies and Mayors.

The CNE has until April 13 to announce the final results of the elections of March 14, and is currently counting the tally of the tally sheets with inconsistencies, the number of which could increase depending on the number of challenges from candidates that may be found.

Another candidate of the Liberal Party, Luis Zelaya (second in number of votes after Yani Rosenthal), denounced that the latter committed fraud and presented his challenge earlier this month.

The March 14 primaries contemplated the participation of 4.8 million Hondurans. According to the CNE, a total of 2 million 123,701 people went to vote that day.  The elections also saw the selection of candidates for the three vice-presidencies, 298 municipal mayorships, as well as 128 deputies for the Honduran Parliament and 20 for the Central American Parliament.