TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hondurans will go to the polls on Sunday to vote for their new leader, and the sitting president Juan Orlando Hernandez is seeking a second term in power for his National Party.
Honduras' electoral authority will install over 18,000 counting tables, watched over by around 35,000 members of the military and police, while 16,000 national and 500 international observers will oversee the election to ensure it goes smoothly and fairly.
The general election is considered to have three possible scenarios: the reelection of Hernandez, the return to the power of the historic Liberal Party, or the rise of an unprecedented center-left coalition.
Hernandez is the first presidential candidate in the Central American country's recent history to run for re-election as an incumbent. While the constitution bars a second term, the Supreme Court lifted the ban to allow Hernandez to run for a second time in 2015, which critics view as being favorable to the president.
The opposition, led by former President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, has named TV host Salvador Nasralla as its candidate.
The third man with a chance to win is the candidate of the Liberal Party, Luis Zelaya, the former dean of the Central American Technological University, who has stepped down from his job to run.
Raul Pineda Alvarado, a political analyst, said that Hernandez's pursuit of re-election is based on certain improvements in the economy and security. However, the analyst also pointed out some problems hidden under the improvements.
He warned that while Hernandez and the International Monetary Fund have declared positive economic results due to the reduction of fiscal deficit, it came at the cost of the general public, who have seen rising prices of essential foods.
Alvarado also said that while police have arrested more gangsters and broken up organized crime rings to enhance social security, prisons are seriously overcrowded.
The other two candidates Nasralla and Zelaya have suggested solutions to Honduras' socioeconomic problems, said Alvarado.
Along with a president, some 6.2 million eligible voters will also elect three vice-presidents, 128 members of parliament, 20 members for the Central American parliament and 298 mayors.
