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The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating the vote count in the country.

Over a week after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.

Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery."

The progressive hopeful placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Unrest

With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the election body's update.

Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end.

Representatives of the CNE blamed "technical problems."

They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be examined.

Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon

The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.

Just days before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers."

"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but we will not be wasting resources, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added.

In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is from the same party as Asfura.

Hernández was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine.

His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.

Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling

Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.

Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on.

"If they do, there will be hell to pay," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.

Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in the lead, it has been his two rivals alleging misconduct.

Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "complete cancellation" of the elections.

It also urged its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process."

Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.