Haïti : vers un nouveau report sine die des élections présidentielle et législatives

La1ere.fr (avec AFP)
Publié le 06/04/2016 | 10:45, mis à jour le 06/04/2016 | 10:56
Le second tour de la présidentielle et des élections législatives haïtiennes, initialement prévus en décembre, ne pourront se tenir le 24 avril comme prévu, a laissé entendre le président du Conseil électoral provisoire mardi.
"On ne peut pas parler de calendrier électoral dans la phase où nous sommes", a déclaré Léopold Berlanger lors d'une conférence de presse tenue au siège du Conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) dans l'aire métropolitaine de Port-au-Prince.
Haïti est plongée dans une crise politique profonde depuis que le processus électoral a été suspendu en janvier, en raison des accusations de l'opposition dénonçant un "coup d'Etat électoral" fomenté par Michel Martelly, l'ancien président. Au premier tour du scrutin présidentiel, le 25 octobre, le candidat du pouvoir, Jovenel Moïse, avait recueilli 32,76% des voix, contre 25,29% pour Jude Célestin, qui a qualifié ces scores de "farce ridicule".
Accord de sortie de crise
En raison des reports successifs du second tour de la présidentielle, Michel Martelly a achevé son mandat le 7 février sans remettre le pouvoir à un successeur élu. Un accord de sortie de crise, signé entre le pouvoir exécutif et le Parlement, a permis l'élection de Jocelerme Privert, à l'époque président du Sénat, au poste de président provisoire, pour un mandat de trois mois. Cet accord indiquait également que les élections laissées en suspens seraient organisées le 24 avril.
Mais ce mardi, le président du CEP s'est défendu d'avoir à respecter cette échéance. "Comme Conseil électoral, nous ne sommes pas partie prenante de cet accord", a expliqué Léopold Berlanger. "Nous sommes une institution indépendante qui a un cadre donné par la constitution et la loi électorale : il est clairement dit que le conseil a l'autorité pour dire dans quel délai les élections peuvent avoir lieu", a-t-il ajouté.
Division de la classe politique
Pour sa première conférence depuis l'installation jeudi dernier du Conseil, Léopold Berlanger a par ailleurs sévèrement critiqué la division au sein de la classe politique qui paralyse le retour d'Haïti à l'ordre constitutionnel. Les résultats des élections municipales, tour unique qui s'est tenu le 25 octobre dernier, sont en effet contestés devant les tribunaux électoraux dans 81 des 140 communes du pays.
"C'est une situation grave car cela montre que le processus est malade", a dénoncé Léopold Berlanger. "Comment pouvez-vous avoir une élection pour laquelle deux tiers des postes sont contestés ?" s'interroge le président du CEP qui dénonce ceux enclins à la corruption. "Certains ont la perception que le contentieux est peut-être un moyen pour acheter et vendre une élection", a déclaré Léopold Berlanger.
En raison de l'important retard sur le calendrier électoral, une quarantaine de sièges parlementaires sont encore non pourvus et, depuis fin 2012, toutes les communes d'Haïti sont administrées par des agents intérimaires nommés sans consensus par Michel Martelly.
Sources: http://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/haiti-vers-un-nouveau-report-sine-die-des-elections-presidentielle-et-legislatives-347435.html

Haiti presidential runoff elections headed to another delay

New chief of elections council says process is broken
Presidential runoffs twice delayed
More than half of the 140 municipal elections in dispute

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@miamiherald.com
It’s not yet official, but the head of Haiti’s newly revamped Provisional Electoral Council made it clear Tuesday that the country’s repeatedly postponed final round, scheduled for the last Sunday of this month, won’t happen that day.

Léopold Berlanger, a media executive who was appointed president of the nine-member council after members were sworn in last week, said they couldn’t talk about an election calendar until they first figure out what’s ailing the nation’s electoral process.

He also punted on the politically thorny issue of a recount. Berlanger said the formation of a verification commission to address the allegations of “massive” fraud and determine who belongs in the second round “is a political decision” best left to others.

“You have to understand what malfunction [the electoral machinery] has, and what needs to be done to fix it before the second [round] can take off,” Berlanger said during the council’s first news conference. “After we determine that, we can continue with the electoral calendar.”

Initially scheduled for Dec. 27, Haiti’s final round to elect a president and complete parliament has twice been postponed after the opposition alleged multiple voting irregularities and ballot tampering.

THE JANUARY POSTPONEMENT FORCED PRESIDENT MICHEL MARTELLY TO DEPART OFFICE IN FEBRUARY WITHOUT AN ELECTED SUCCESSOR, AND A TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT TO STEP INTO THE POWER VACUUM.

The first delay in December was to allow a five-member electoral evaluation commission to address the fraud allegations while also recommending ways to safeguard the integrity of the runoff. The commission found egregious irregularities and a high presumption of fraud. It recommended various changes to the electoral process that it said were necessary in order for a second round to take place.
But those recommendations were never fully adopted.
 Citing that failure, as well as the dismissal of his own recommendations, opposition presidential candidate Jude Célestin declared his boycott of the race against government-backed candidate Jovenel Moïse. Days later, the elections were postponed for a second time as opposition supporters burned polling stations and voting materials, and reiterated their calls for verification of the results.

The January postponement forced President Michel Martelly to depart office a month later without an elected successor, and a transitional government stepped in to fill the power vacuum. Under a Feb. 5 political accord guiding the process, the runoffs were scheduled for April 24.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article70110512.html#storylink=cpy

Haiti urgently needs international help overcoming its political crisis

A supporter of presidential candidate Jovenel Moise
waves a Haitian national flag during a march to demand
elections be reinstated, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
on Feb. 2. (Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press)

By Editorial Board February 3

AFTER MONTHS of mounting instability and political violence, Haiti now is days away from a full-bore leadership crisis. The way out of the impasse is unclear. What is clear is that the current, failed president, Michel Martelly, must go.

Under Haiti’s constitution, Mr. Martelly, who took office in 2011, must step down when his term ends Sunday. However, a runoff election to choose his successor was canceled amid street protests and political upheaval last month, leaving no alternate date for a vote and no plan for a democratic transition.

Now Mr. Martelly is suggesting that he may remain in office if there is no consensus on replacing him. That should be a non-starter, given his record of thuggish conduct, mismanagement and poor governance, his contempt for democratic processes, and his complicity in leading the country into its current dead end. Should Mr. Martelly be permitted to retain power, there is every reason to fear that Haiti, with its history of political turmoil, would be in danger of bloody upheaval. The international community cannot allow that to happen.

There are a number of conceivable exits from the stalemate. None of them would be easily arranged in the absence of strong institutions and trusted legal bodies in Haiti. Any chance of a peaceful resolution will require timely and assertive diplomacy by the Organization of American States, the United States and other influential international actors.

One way forward would be the formation of an interim government — ideally chosen by the National Assembly, not by Mr. Martelly — charged with promptly overseeing new elections. Such a transition might be led by a Haitian Supreme Court justice, by Senate President Jocelerme Privert, by former president René Préval or by another respected figure, and would need to reorganize Haiti’s discredited electoral commission so the country can proceed to a new vote.

Granted, no such interim government would enjoy complete constitutional legitimacy, and there are precious few public figures in Haiti who enjoy broad public backing. Unfortunately, Mr. Martelly is not among them.

If an interim government is constituted, its sole task should be to organize elections as quickly as possible. That would be a difficult job given that six of Haiti’s nine electoral council members have resigned. Moreover, the country’s contentious political culture, poisoned by the autocratic Mr. Martelly, is ill-suited to compromise.

That’s why a strong international hand is required, one that can encourage or, if necessary, coerce the country’s political, civic and business leaders to come to terms on a Haitian resolution.
The history of international intervention in Haiti’s affairs is mixed, at best, and it is undeniable that many Haitians distrust outside meddling. Still, the uncomfortable truth is that Haiti, the hemisphere’s poorest and in some ways most dysfunctional nation, seems ill-equipped for now to manage a transparent democratic transition of leadership on its own. The risk of a vacuum of power is real, and the economy, beset by inflation and a weak currency, is teetering. The country desperately needs an effective government and international help in arranging elections that produce one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/haiti-urgently-needs-international-help/2016/02/03/8c643c74-c930-11e5-ae11-57b6aeab993f_story.html

OAS mission chief says Haiti deal is near

- Haitian politicians are close to finding a solution for the country after Feb. 7
- President Michel Martelly will step down by this weekend
- The Organization of American States tells Haitians it’s not the enemy

Haitians dressed as bananas to show their support for organic banana
 farmer and presidential candidate Jovenel Moise, from the PHTK
party, march to demand elections be reinstated, in Port-au-Prince on
Tuesday. Haiti had been scheduled to hold a presidential and legislative
runoff Jan. 24. But the now-splintered provisional electoral council
canceled it for a second time amid the protests and suspicion that the
 first round was marred by widespread fraud favoring Moise,
President Michel Martelly's chosen candidate. Dieu Nalio Chery AP

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article58452173.html#storylink=cpy

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@miamiherald.com
The head of an Organization of American States special mission to Haiti says he’s confident that all sides will reach a solution in the coming hours on how Haiti will be governed after President Michel Martelly steps down this weekend.
Still, Ronald Sanders, the Antiguan diplomat who is leading the mission and chairs the 35-nation OAS permanent council, concedes that “every day, the goal posts seem to change.”
“There is a different story about what settlement they’re going to reach, as to how they go forward after Feb. 7,” he said. “It’s been a volatile situation.”
On Thursday, Haitian lawmakers finally opened the 50th legislature. And while Senate President Jocelerme Privert, who also served as president of the National Assembly, acknowledged the imminent presidential vacuum, no decision was taken on how to address it. That could happen Saturday.
The OAS mission arrived in Haiti on Sunday at the request of Martelly, who asked the OAS to authorize a special mission following the indefinite suspension of a runoff election to choose a successor before the Feb. 7 constitutional deadline for him to leave office. Martelly also made the same request to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which authorized a smaller mission that flew in and out of Haiti over two days to meet with the president, his presidential pick Jovenel Moïse, and leaders of parliament.
Despite the delicate nature of the discussions, Sanders said he was hopeful a peaceful settlement would soon be reached.
“I am as confident as one can be in these circumstances that the deal that is now on the table will probably come to fruition on Feb. 7,” Sanders told the Miami Herald in an interview from Port-au-Prince. He is scheduled to leave Haiti Friday.
Current negotiations focus on an interim president taking the reins, with current Prime Minister Evans Paul staying until he is either ratified by parliament or a new consensus prime minister is chosen to lead a caretaker government until the runoff is held.
Martelly will leave office by Feb. 7. That point was stressed both by Sanders in private talks with the president, and by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, who took to Twitter this week to stress the point. Some members of the president’s entourage have suggested that he could remain in office until May 14, the date he was sworn in five years ago.
Who will be interim president and how that will be decided remains up in the air.
While Haiti’s constitution doesn’t provide a clear road map for the current situation, Sanders said both leaders of parliament have told him and the other members of the OAS special mission they are going to “try and get to as close as they can to the constitution” for a solution.
“As they said to me, and I accept, ‘This is an exceptional situation requiring an exceptional solution,’ ” Sanders said. “What I am pleased about is that it is they who are finding the solution. They are working together, desperately trying to get to a solution and that is the best thing that can happen. It is not a solution that anyone imposes on them; it is one that they devised, formulate, and it will be up to them to implement it.”
But while an agreement would take Haitians and the international community over the immediate emergency, there is still the issue of the presidential and partial legislative runoffs. The vote was supposed to happen on Jan. 24, but was postponed amid fraud allegations that sparked violent street protests and a boycott by opposition presidential candidate Jude Célestin.
An opposition alliance of eight presidential candidates, of which Célestin is part, refused to meet with the OAS. Sanders, however, said he has met privately with some members to get their view of the crisis.
Prior to the mission’s arrival, the alliance had said that it was not welcomed in the country and not needed to “meddle” in Haiti’s affairs. Sanders stressed that the role of the mission is not to interfere in the internal affairs of Haiti but support Haitians finding “a Haitian solution” to the crisis.
He said he used his meetings with senators, business leaders, and others to try to correct “a lot of false ideas” about the OAS and its role in the disputed 2010 presidential vote. That election was also marred by allegations of fraud in favor of then government-backed candidate, Célestin. The OAS was called in to verify the vote count, and Martelly was moved into the runoff spot in lieu of Célestin.
Whoever is put in charge of Haiti’s caretaker government will have to find a way to address the electoral crisis in order to allow for the vote to happen by April 14, and a new president to be sworn in by May 14, under the agreement being discussed.
A poll released Wednesday by the Brazil-based Igarape Institute, an independent research group, says despite deep voter disenchantment, most Haitians would vote if they had confidence that elections were fair. The poll was conducted prior to the scheduled Jan. 24 runoff and surveyed 1,766 randomly chosen adults across Haiti. It had a margin of error of about three percentage points.
Sanders said he doesn’t believe anyone can stop the anti-election protests, noting that “people who have a vested interest in running for the presidency will try and take advantage of any vacuum to continue their campaigns. That is going to happen anyway.”
“People who are in a political fight, struggle, they are going to remain in it,” he said. “This country is ready for an election. The people of this country want an election to put an end to this matter so that their lives can continue. At the moment, it’s dominated by the election.”
“Everybody recognizes that the sooner the election can be held, the better,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article58452173.html#storylink=cpy

Haïti: l'opposition réclame la démission du président après le report des élections

Des milliers de personnes ont défilé samedi à Port-au-Prince pour réclamer le départ du président Michel Martelly, au lendemain du report du second tour de l'élection présidentielle pour "raisons de sécurité".
"Nous exigeons désormais le départ de Michel Martelly et (du Premier ministre) Evans Paul et la formation d'un gouvernement de transition avant le 7 février pour faire aboutir le processus électoral en cours", a affirmé Assad Volcy, un responsable politique de l'opposition.
Le candidat à la présidentielle soutenu par le gouvernement, Jovenel Moïse, a quant à lui appelé à une "rapide" reprogrammation du second tour.
Il a estimé que "le peuple était prêt pour voter Jovenel Moïse en foule" lors du scrutin qui devait se dérouler dimanche, en même temps que des législatives partielles.
Vendredi, à moins de 48 heures de l'ouverture des bureaux de vote, le président du Conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) a annoncé le report des scrutins, sans qu'aucune date de remplacement ne soit formulée.
Le président du CEP a justifié ce report "pour des raisons évidentes de sécurité". Une douzaine de bureaux électoraux ont été incendiés ou attaqués dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi.
Au premier tour du scrutin présidentiel le 25 octobre, Jovenel Moïse avait recueilli 32,76% des voix, contre 25,29% pour Jude Célestin, qui avait qualifié ces scores de "farce ridicule".
L'opposition a multiplié les manifestations pour dénoncer "un coup d'Etat électoral" fomenté par le président Martelly. Jude Célestin, qui n'a pas fait campagne, refusait de participer au second tour.

Manifestation à Port-au-Prince, le 23 janvier 2016, en Haïti
pour réclamer le départ du président Michel Martelly après le
report du 2e tour de la présidentielle © HECTOR RETAMAL 

 Il s'agit du deuxième report des scrutins, qui devaient initialement être organisés le 27 décembre.
- Violences -

Les mobilisations contre le pouvoir en place qui ont rassemblé, vendredi et samedi, plusieurs milliers de personnes à Port-au-Prince se sont achevées par des incidents violents. Une personne a été blessée par balle, trois voitures ont été incendiées et plusieurs vitrines de magasins brisées vendredi à proximité du siège du CEP.
Samedi, le cortège de l'opposition, qui multipliait les petites barricades de pneus enflammés sur son parcours, a essuyé quelques jets de pierres isolés. Les manifestants ont répliqué immédiatement par de nombreux jets de pierres et de bouteilles.
Arrivée sur la place du Champ de Mars, la foule a pris pour cible un marché. L'agent de sécurité protégeant le lieu a tiré à balles réelles en l'air à deux reprises, suscitant un regain de colère des manifestants, a constaté un journaliste de l'AFP.
La police, présente en nombre pour assurer la protection du palais présidentiel à quelques mètres de là, a ramené le calme et dispersé la foule en utilisant des camions lanceurs d'eau irritante.
Evel Fanfan, avocat de l'un des premiers partis d'opposition, justifie les violences qui ont plongé la capitale haïtienne dans la panique.

Manifestation à Port-au-Prince, le 23 janvier 2016, en Haïti
Pour réclamer le départ du président Michel Martelly après le
report du 2e tour de la présidentielle © HECTOR RETAMAL 

"Quelle est la plus grande violence quand un gouvernement a tenté de voler la volonté du peuple ? Quand un président de la République essaie de provoquer, d'humilier tout un peuple ? Quand la violence est le résultat de la violence pour la liberté, pour la démocratie, je dirais que c'est la bonne violence", a-t-il déclaré à l'AFP lors de la manifestation de samedi.

- Inquiétude de la communauté internationale -
Le chef de l'Etat Michel Martelly n'a fait aucune déclaration publique depuis l'annonce par le CEP de l'annulation des élections de dimanche. Une adresse présidentielle à la nation avait été annoncée pour vendredi soir mais a été annulée sans explication.
Le secrétaire général des Nations unies Ban Ki-moon appelle la classe politique haïtienne à "travailler sans tarder à la conclusion du processus électoral de manière pacifique, en trouvant une solution consensuelle qui permettra au peuple d'Haïti d'exercer son droit de vote pour élire un nouveau président ainsi que les représentants restants du nouveau Parlement".
Appelant à "un dialogue raisonnable et consensuel", la mission d'observation électorale déployée en Haïti par l'Organisation des Etats américains (OEA) "condamne fermement tous les actes de violence, incluant ceux dirigés contre les observateurs de l'OEA durant leur déploiement".
L'Union européenne "regrette" aussi "la détérioration de l'environnement" et "souligne la nécessité de respecter les résultats électoraux du scrutin du 25 octobre 2015".
24/01/2016 10:50:33 - Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Par Amelie BARON - © 2016 AFP
http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/haiti-l-opposition-reclame-la-demission-du-president-apres-le-report-des-elections-24-01-2016-2012322_24.php

Haïti dans l'incertitude après le report de dernière minute de la présidentielle

Des manifestations de joie ont été réprimées vendredi en Haïti, après l'annonce par le président du conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) d'un nouveau report de l'élection présidentielle prévue dimanche pour "des raisons évidentes de sécurité".
Le report de dernière minute vendredi 22 janvier de l'élection présidentielle controversée prévue dimanche en Haïti a plongé une nouvelle fois le pays dans l'incertitude politique. Les milliers de manifestants, qui avaient à nouveau pris les rues vendredi midi pour contester la tenue des scrutins, se sont réjouis à l'annonce de l'annulation, mais la liesse a été de courte durée. Devant le siège du conseil électoral, étape prévue dans son parcours, la foule a été violemment dispersée par les policiers qui ont lancé des grenades lacrymogènes.
Des tirs à balles réelles ont aussi été entendus par les journalistes de l'AFP. La panique a alors gagné la commune de Pétionville, où se situe le siège du CEP. Une personne a été blessée par balle, trois voitures ont été incendiées et plusieurs vitrines de magasins brisées dans cette banlieue aisée de l'aire métropolitaine de Port-au-Prince.
Plus tôt dans l'après-midi, invoquant des questions "évidentes de sécurité", le président du conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) en charge de l'organisation des scrutins en Haïti, avait annoncé le report des élections prévues ce dimanche sans donner de nouvelle date. Pierre-Louis Opont, le président du CEP, a justifié l'annulation du vote, décidée à moins de 48 heures du scrutin, par l'"ensemble d'incidents et d'actes violents sur l'ensemble des infrastructures du conseil". Depuis les résultats du premier tour de l’élection, l'opposition a multiplié les manifestations pour dénoncer "un coup d'État électoral" fomenté par l’actuel président Michel Martelly. Plusieurs bureaux électoraux avaient notamment été incendiés en province dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi.
Silence de la présidence
Lors du premier tour du scrutin présidentiel le 25 octobre, le candidat du pouvoir, Jovenel Moïse, avait recueilli 32,76 % des voix, contre 25,29 % pour Jude Célestin, qui avait qualifié ces scores de "farce ridicule". Après l'annonce de l'annulation de l'élections, Jude Célestin a expliqué qu'il considérait cela comme "une solution sage". "Tardive certes, car nous avons dépensé des sous que nous n'avions même pas, ce qui montre l'irresponsabilité de nos dirigeants. Mais mieux vaut tard que jamais", a-t-il réagi. Pour le candidat de l'opposition, "c'est une victoire pour la démocratie, pas seulement pour moi, car je n'étais pas le seul à combattre cette 'sélection'".
En revanche, aucune réaction ou commentaire du candidat du pouvoir n'a pu encore être recueillie. Son équipe de campagne a seulement précisé que Jovenel Moïse "est en réunion".
Le président du CEP a expliqué aux journalistes lors d'un point de presse qu’il attendait "la réaction de l'exécutif pour discuter du problème avec lui, car notre interlocuteur immédiat en matière électorale, c'est l'exécutif". Or, depuis l’annonce du report des élections, le gouvernement haïtien s’est terré dans le silence. Le président Michel Martelly devait prononcer, depuis le palais national, un discours à la nation vers 21 h GMT, mais cette allocution a été annulée sans explication.
La possibilité d'un gouvernement intérimaire
Après un premier report des scrutins présidentiel et législatifs en raison des contestations de l'opposition, ce nouveau report plonge à nouveau Haïti dans l'incertitude. Respecter la date constitutionnelle du 7 février pour la passation du pouvoir présidentiel semble impossible. Un gouvernement intérimaire pourrait prendre en charge la gestion des affaires courantes après cette date et organiser la tenue d'élections d'ici avril, d’après des sources diplomatiques.
Depuis la fin de la dictature des Duvalier en 1986, Haïti connaît une crise démocratique émaillée de coups d'État et d'élections contestées qui fragilisent le développement économique du pays, encore marqué par le terrible séisme de janvier 2010 qui a fait plus de 200 000 morts.

Haïti: l'opposition réclame le départ immédiat du président Martelly

(Belga) Plusieurs milliers de manifestants ont défilé samedi dans les rues de Port-au-Prince pour réclamer le départ immédiat du président Michel Martelly, au lendemain de l'annulation pour "des raisons de sécurité" des élections prévues dimanche.
"Nous exigeons désormais le départ de Michel Martelly et (du Premier ministre) Evans Paul et la formation d'un gouvernement de transition avant le 7 février pour faire aboutir le processus électoral en cours", a affirmé Assad Volcy, un responsable politique de l'opposition.

Vendredi, à moins de 48 heures de l'ouverture des bureaux de vote, le président du conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) a annoncé le report du second tour de la présidentielle et des législatives partielles initialement prévues dimanche.
Le président du CEP a justifié ce report sine die par "des raisons évidentes de sécurité". Une douzaine de bureaux électoraux ont été incendiés ou attaqués en province dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi.
Au premier tour du scrutin présidentiel le 25 octobre, le candidat du pouvoir, Jovenel Moïse, avait recueilli 32,76% des voix, contre 25,29% pour Jude Célestin, qui a qualifié ces scores de "farce ridicule".
Après un premier report des scrutins en raison des contestations de l'opposition, cette nouvelle annulation plonge Haïti dans l'incertitude. (Belga)
http://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20160124_00769184

Haiti elections scheduled for Sunday have been canceled

- The CEP said safety could not be guaranteed
- Opposition candidate calls cancellation a victory
-
Negotials have been ongoing since early Thursday
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@miamiherald.com
PORT-AU-PRINCE
Haitian elections officials Friday afternoon abruptly canceled Sunday’s planned elections amid escalating protests and violence around the country.
Moments earlier, the officials had halted the distribution of voting materials and began recovery of those that had already gone out.
Elections officials said at a news conference that safety could not be guaranteed for voters or poll workers.
The cancellation is “a victory for all of the democratic sector,” said Jude Célestin, the main opposition candidate in Sunday’s election.
“This isn’t just about me. It’s also about all the people who supported me and who fought for us to arrive here,” he told the Miami Herald.
The electoral commission’s about-face came after the international community said it is leaving the door open for Haitians to find a political consensus that could lead to the postponement of Sunday’s partial legislative and presidential runoff.
Six foreign ambassadors along with the representative of the Organization of American States and the head of the U.N. peacekeeping stabilization mission said Friday that while they still want to see the conclusion of the electoral process, they support efforts “aimed at finding a way forward that ensures the democratic renewal of state institutions.”
The statement makes no mention of a Jan. 24 presidential runoff or a Feb. 7 constitutional end of President Michel Martelly’s term, two dates that the international community had been insistent on Haiti maintaining. But they softened their stance Friday as Célestin continued to boycott the runoff and tires and cars burned in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Also, reports trickled in that schools doubling as voting bureaus were being burned.
For days, members of the private sector and Roman Catholic Cardinal Chibly Langlois have been trying to find a solution to the country's electoral crisis, which was triggered by allegations of fraud in the Oct. 25 presidential runoff and Célestin declaring his non-participation. The negotiations had stalled but as of Friday, they were back on track as both the executive and the opposition worked on their own separate proposals.
Sources familiar with the talks, say the sticking point remains Feb. 7, and who would govern Haiti afterward. Martelly supporters say he should be allowed to remain in power until a new president is elected. The opposition, including a majority of senators, want him gone.
While Martelly has been insistent on his desire to leave at the end of his presidential term, he has said that he has an obligation to hand over power to another elected president. This, however, has been a rare occurrence in Haiti's turbulent history where former President Rene Préval became the first president to not face prison, death or exile after he transferred power to Martelly in 2011.
Less than 24 hours after Martelly called on Haitians to head to the polls in a national address, Prime Minister Evans Paul said in an interview on Vision 2000 that “everyone sees that there is a problem with the 24th of January...even President Martelly when he says elections ‘straight ahead.’ ”
Despite that government-backed candidate Jovenel Moïse continued with the campaigning spending Friday, doing media rounds in the capital after holding a rally the evening before in Ouanaminthe.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article56092280.html#storylink=cpy Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article56092280.html#storylink=cpy

Haiti presidential vote plagued by irregularities, report finds

- Haiti’s Electoral Commission issued a probe of the Oct. 25 presidential vote
- The Provisional Electoral Council must be changed to salvage elections
- One member of the commission failed to sign off on the report

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@miamiherald.com
A commission charged with evaluating Haiti’s Oct. 25 presidential and legislative elections has found that egregious irregularities and a high presumption of fraud plagued the vote, while the electoral machine requires sweeping changes in order to hold a postponed runoff.
According to official results, government-backed candidate Jovenel Moïse received 32.76 percent of the votes while Jude Célestin, the former head of the state construction agency, garnered 25.29 percent. Célestin, however, called the results a “ridiculous farce” and refused to campaign.
Alleging vote-rigging and ballot-stuffing, Célestin and other opposition candidates called for an independent Haitian-led commission to probe the disputed balloting. The commission was created by President Michel Martelly on Dec. 22, five days before the postponed second round. On Sunday morning, members issued their findings, which critics say do not resolve the political crisis despite pointing out a series of major systemic problems besieging Haitian society.
For one, the report, which acknowledged problems with the electoral machine, does not call for a postponement of the second round. Both Martelly and Prime Minister Evans Paul have indicated that it must take place on Jan. 17 if Haiti is to have a new president take office by its Feb. 7 constitutionally-mandated deadline.
Instead, the report calls for greater transparency including a national dialogue, an extensive analysis of the vote to determine the real extent of the irregularities and fraud, and changes in the electoral machine. The council, known as the CEP, “no longer has the credibility to permit it to continue with the process without plunging the country into a more serious crisis,” the report says.
During a meeting with the commission, the CEP recognized the weakness in its preparation. For example, more than 60 percent of poll workers were not able to properly perform the required work. The result was “many poorly written minutes, with erasures, errors of calculation or counting,” the report says.
“The commission is in fact saying that legitimate elections are impossible by Jan. 17. If elections were to take place under current conditions, they would not resolve the existing political impasse but instead would plunge the country into a deeper crisis,” said Robert Fatton, a Haiti expert and political science professor at the University of Virginia.
Some had hoped the commission’s probe would unblock the political impasse and move the electoral process along. But some believe that its findings risk deepening the impasse. The report, for example, pointed out that voters’ signatures or fingerprints were missing from 57 percent of the audited documents. Meanwhile, voter registration numbers were missing from 31 percent of the partial voting list and were written incorrectly on another 47 percent.
Meanwhile, 60 percent of voters were allowed to vote by proxy, and the commission noted that 43 percent of the tally sheets had been modified.
While commission members visited the vote-tabulation center to audit documents, the commission’s work is more an evaluation of the electoral process rather than a verification of the 1.5 million ballots cast. As a result, the report stops short of saying who benefited most from the irregularities or fraud, a conclusion that requires more technical expertise and analysis, the commission notes.
Commission member Gedeon Jean who represents the human-rights sector, did not sign the report.
The government on Sunday acknowledged receipt of the report but did not say officially whether the runoff will still take place Jan. 17. Martelly instead “urged the relevant actors involved in the electoral process,” to work toward a reasonable solution to the crisis. This includes promoting political stability by respecting the constitutionally-mandated dates of Feb. 7 for the handover of power to a newly elected president, and Jan. 11 for the start of the 50th Legislature. Haiti has been without a functioning parliament since Jan. 11, 2015.
“Ultimately, the commission failed to make the logical recommendation that its findings lead to: a new election with a new CEP. On the other hand, how can we guarantee, given past history, that a new CEP will indeed be able to organize new elections without major fraud?” Fatton said. “The commission did not want to go there because it was haunted by the specter of its own investigation and previous elections. In short, the report does not bring us any closer to a resolution of the current crisis, it merely exposes the underbelly of the beast.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article52872785.html#storylink=cpy

Haiti’s electoral council postpones Sunday’s presidential vote

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council yesterday postponed until January this Sunday’s scheduled presidential run-off election amid accusations by the opposition candidate of fraud and irregularities.
“The Provisional Electoral Council informs the general public, political parties and candidates in particular, that the elections of local authorities as well as the partial legislative and presidential elections that were to be held December 27, 2015 are postponed,” the council said in a statement.
Ruling party candidate Jovenel Moïse and former government executive Jude Célestin were due to face each other on Sunday.
Instead, the vote will take place in January, possibly on January 10, two of the council members said.
“We are technically ready for the election but the election has been postponed because there is a commission assessing the process,” Pierre Manigat Jr, vice president of the electoral council, said. “This commission will make recommendations to the electoral council. We could not go on organizing the election without waiting for the recommendations of the commission.”
The winner will succeed President Michel Martelly in February as the head of Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.
If the postponed election goes well, it will mark the first time in Haiti’s rocky political history that three democratic elections have been held in succession without interruption by fraud or armed rebellion. Moïse and Célestin came out on top in a field of 54 candidates in the first round on October 25.
The third-place candidate in the first round alleged that ballots supporting him had been destroyed.
The Caribbean nation of about 10 million people has struggled to establish democratic rule after decades of dictatorship, military coups and election fraud.
Martelly, a popular singer, oversaw the slow recovery from a devastating earthquake in 2010, but critics have said that he allowed corruption to run rampant and failed to resolve political divisions that led to the dissolution of parliament in January.
Moïse represents the ruling Parti Haitien Tet Kale (Haitian Party of Bald Heads), named after Martelly’s smooth scalp. He won nearly 33 per cent of the vote in the first round.
Célestin, of the Alternative League for Progress and Emancipation of Haiti, won 25 per cent.
The election will also determine a few remaining Senate and lower house seats that required a run-off in addition to local positions for hundreds of municipalities.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2015/news/world/12/22/haitis-electoral-council-postpones-sundays-presidential-vote/

AP Interview: Haiti President Defends Questioned Elections

Haitian President Michel Martelly has defended much-criticized elections in the divided country and asserted that the opposition has spread unsubstantiated allegations about widespread electoral fraud purely to strengthen its position.
During an interview with The Associated Press, Martelly said he believed that disputed results from the October presidential round that put the government-backed contender on top for a two-candidate runoff was a genuine reflection of voters' will.
"We feel confident enough that what happened the first time will happen again because it's the vote of the people," the outgoing president said Monday on the grounds where the domed National Palace once stood before it pancaked in Haiti's 2010 earthquake.
Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council reported that Jovenel Moise of Martelly's well-financed Tet Kale party received nearly 33 percent of the Oct. 25 vote to clear the packed field of 54 presidential candidates. Official results have the political newcomer getting 117,602 more votes than second-place finisher Jude Celestin, an ex-state construction chief who was eliminated from a runoff during the last election cycle after a contested count was reviewed.
In recent weeks, growing allegations of rampant fraud have brought sometimes violent street protests and so many broad accusations from civil society, religious and opposition groups that Haiti's Dec. 27 runoffs were postponed late Monday.
For now, no immediate resolution to Haiti's electoral tensions is in sight. A new election date won't be announced until a special commission formed by presidential decree can review Haiti's electoral process and make recommendations.
On Monday, Martelly said political opponents and critics have been wildly exaggerating the extent of irregularities on Oct. 25. On a whole, he asserted, balloting was remarkably "free and fair" in a country where votes have never been easy and are often marred by violence, intimidation and other blatant irregularities.
Martelly noted that after polls closed on Oct. 25, international electoral missions and local groups hailed it as an apparent success. It contrasted sharply with an earlier legislative round in August that suffered from various violent disturbances, even though international monitors said it was not enough to disrupt the legitimacy of the overall vote.
His assertion is that the opposition was so troubled by Moise's status as the leading candidate that leading figures started denouncing the elections as a mockery of democracy. Celestin has called the first-round results with agricultural entrepreneur Moise on top a "ridiculous farce."
"It looked like the potential winner was not what the opposition expected, so the same minute, the same night, they started building that perception (of fraud)," said Martelly.
Opposition factions and some observer groups suspect that fraudsters used some of the roughly 900,000 accreditations issued for political party representatives to facilitate multiple voting. There are also accusations that electoral council officials accepted bribes to secure spots in runoffs, among other fraud allegations.
The various accusations have raised so many suspicions here and abroad that Martelly, under pressure, announced the creation of an evaluation commission to hopefully provide a way out of the impasse. He said his priority is a "credible" final round that will be recognized as legitimate.
This year's three rounds of balloting for nearly all of Haiti's public offices have been the first elections under Martelly's tenure. Despite pressure from the U.N., U.S. and others, previous efforts to hold legislative and local votes were snarled by bitter infighting between the executive and legislative branches.
Although Celestin's opposition alliance has called for resignations at the electoral council and judicial investigations, Martelly asserted that this Provisional Electoral Council has proven itself to be "strong enough and independent enough." He noted that the council was loudly praised when it rejected first lady Sophia Martelly's bid to run for Senate. The move was heralded as a sign the body known as the CEP was independent.
"(They said) that this was the best CEP, particularly at the time that they kicked my wife out of the race," he said.
Constitutionally due to leave office on Feb. 7 because he can't run for a consecutive term, Martelly told AP that his main remaining task is handing over the reins to a legitimate government. He said he's seeking compromises with Celestin's camp, sitting senators and the electoral council to ensure runoffs occur soon. He warned that some opposition factions were trying to derail elections so a transitional government could instead be put in place.
"They believe this is the only way they can get in power and also the only way they can organize elections for themselves," he said.
——— David McFadden on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dmcfadd
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ap-interview-haiti-president-defends-questioned-elections-35900468

Autoridades haitianas y observadores satisfechos con elecciones

El primer ministro de Haití, Evans Paul, calificó el proceso electoral de "exitoso" y consideró que constituye un "triunfo para el país", que deberá esperar diez días para conocer los resultados preliminares de los comicios, según anunció el presidente de la Comisión Electoral Provisional de Haití (CEP).
EL UNIVERSAL
Domingo 25 de octubre de 2015
Puerto Príncipe.- Tanto las autoridades haitianas como los observadores internacionales manifestaron su satisfacción por el desarrollo pacífico y la buena organización de las elecciones presidenciales, legislativas y municipales celebradas hoy, así como por los índices de participación.
El primer ministro de Haití, Evans Paul, calificó el proceso electoral de "exitoso" y consideró que constituye un "triunfo para el país", que deberá esperar diez días para conocer los resultados preliminares de los comicios, según anunció el presidente de la Comisión Electoral Provisional de Haití (CEP), reseñó la agencia Efe.
"Algunos habrán resultado elegidos y otros no. Nadie habrá perdido, Haití habrá ganado", señaló.
La apertura de los colegios estuvo marcada por la tranquilidad, excepto por algunos incidentes aislados en el noreste del país, como en Morau y Champagne, entre otras poblaciones, y por retrasos registrados en algunos centros de votación.
El número de detenidos durante la jornada electoral fue de 74, según señaló en declaraciones a Efe el primer ministro, frente a los más de 200 arrestos efectuados el 9 de agosto, día de la primera vuelta de las legislativas, por incidentes en los que murieron diez personas.
Sin embargo, el jefe de la policía nacional haitiana, Godson Orelus, reveló más tarde que 234 personas fueron detenidas en incidentes durante la jornada electoral de hoy.
En una conferencia de prensa tras el cierre de los centros de votación de las elecciones presidenciales, legislativas y municipales, Orelus explicó además que en ocho puestos del norte no se pudieron celebrar los comicios, ya que no llegaron las papeletas porque fueron interceptadas por bandidos.
Además, la policía se incautó de trece armas de fuego.
El despliegue de fuerzas de seguridad también ha contribuido al normal desarrollo de los comicios, con la presencia de 12.000 efectivos de la Policía Nacional de Haití (PNH) y de la Minustah, que se vieron reforzados con la presencia, como novedad, de drones y cámaras de seguridad en algunos de los centros de votación más críticos.
La mejora en la organización de los comicios también ha sido determinante para el normal desarrollo de esta jornada, en opinión de la responsable de la Misión de Observación de la UE para Haití (MOE Haiti), la española Elena Valenciano, quien destacó que algunas de las medidas adoptadas por el CEP "han sido decisivas para que esto sea más tranquilo".
Por su parte, el jefe de la Misión de Observación Electoral de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA) en Haití, Celso Amorim, celebró la gran participación de los electores, en una situación sin incidentes, que ha motivado a la gente a participar en el proceso.
En las legislativas del 9 de agosto, apenas acudió a ejercer el derecho a sufragio el 18 % de los 5,5 millones de ciudadanos aptos para votar.
También la directora en Haití de la Fundación Internacional para los Sistemas Electorales (IFES, por sus siglas en inglés), Alexandra Rossi, alabó las mejoras en el proceso y consideró que "el éxito de este día será el resultado de un trabajo de equipo por parte de la institución electoral independiente, del Gobierno, de la población, de los partidos políticos y de los medios de comunicación".
Los votantes más esperados en el día de hoy fueron el actual presidente, Michel Martelly, el candidato opositor Jude Celestin, el expresidente Jean Bertrand Aristide y la candidata de su partido Familia Lavalas, Marysse Narcisse, cuya presencia suscitó el entusiasmo de los electores que se encontraban en los respectivos centros de votación.
Una vez finalizadas las votaciones, convoyes de la Minustah recorrieron los centros electorales para recoger las urnas con los sufragios y proceder al recuento de votos.
Los 5,8 millones de votantes haitianos inscritos acudieron hoy a la cita con las urnas para elegir entre medio centenar de candidatos al sucesor de Martelly en la Presidencia del país, así como para designar a miembros del parlamento y autoridades municipales.
Las encuestas previas daban por seguro que se necesitará una segunda vuelta, el 27 de diciembre, para definir el ganador de las elecciones presidenciales
http://www.eluniversal.com/internacional/151025/autoridades-haitianas-y-observadores-satisfechos-con-elecciones

Haïti: satisfaction générale après des élections pacifiques

Par AFP — 25 octobre 2015 à 21:41

Haïti: satisfaction générale après des élections pacifiques
Les autorités haïtiennes, les observateurs internationaux et les électeurs se sont réjouis dimanche du bon déroulement des élections générales en Haïti permettant aux citoyens, qui se sont déplacés nombreux, de voter notamment pour choisir leur futur président.
Le scrutin clos, le président du conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) a qualifié d'«exploit» cette journée de vote. Lors d’une conférence de presse dimanche soir, il a tenu à remercier les différents acteurs qui ont participé au déroulement pacifique des élections dont les résultats ne seront connus que début novembre.
«A tous ces partis politiques qui, dans la précarité, se sont présentés à ce rendez-vous tant important pour l’avenir du pays, je leur dis que l’histoire le retiendra», a déclaré Pierre-Louis Opont. «Merci aux électeurs qui ont su garder leur calme et qui je l’espère ont pu choisir les nouveaux dirigeants qui auront la charge de l’Etat pour les prochaines années.»
Car à travers le pays, les files d’attente se sont étendues devant l’entrée des bureaux de vote, une scène qu’Haïti n’avait pas connue depuis près d’une décennie.
Les 5,8 millions d’Haïtiens votaient pour le premier tour de l’élection présidentielle, le second tour des législatives et le tour unique des municipales.
Cet engouement détonne nettement avec la précédente journée d’élections: le 9 août, le premier tour des législatives avait été fortement perturbé par des violences et des fraudes provoquant deux morts et une abstention massive.
A l’entrée du grand marché de Canapé-Vert, au coeur de la capitale, des agents mandatés par le CEP veillaient à ce que les personnes soient bien en possession de leur carte d’identité.
Les policiers en faction aux abords et à l’intérieur de ce grand centre de vote avaient le sourire et ont géré sans difficultés l’affluence.
«La police a mis une bonne stratégie sur pied, ça me satisfait. Beaucoup de corrections ont été faites suite aux dérives qui ont eu lieu le 9 août», observe Willy Saint-Fort après avoir glissé ses bulletins dans les quatre urnes posées sur l’étal d’ordinaire occupé par des fruits et légumes
. Discutant tranquillement avec ses amis, l’homme de 43 ans évoque un moment historique pour son pays. «Je veux féliciter les citoyens et citoyennes qui ont pris conscience que, pour que le pays change, c’est à nous Haïtiens d’agir, de nous mettre ensemble pour qu’on ait des bons dirigeants», exulte-t-il. «Il n’est plus question de gouvernement provisoire ou de violences.»
- 'Un pas important' - A l’instar du conseil électoral provisoire, le chef de la mission d’observation électorale, dépêchée par l’Organisation des Etats américains (OEA), a salué cet élan civique.
«Le peuple haïtien démontre la volonté de participer, je trouve tout cela positif,» a témoigné Celso Amorim. «C’est un pas important qu’Haïti est en train de faire aujourd’hui.»
Pour ces scrutins, c’est finalement la logistique qui s’est avérée le problème majeur. Faute d’espace par exemple dans le lycée de Pétionville, les isoloirs ont été posés sur des petites tables ou des coins de banc.
«C’est vraiment lamentable mais c’est toujours comme ça pour les élections», se désole Frantz Ernso, un observateur d’une organisation de la société civile haïtienne. «Les gens votent accroupis devant des bancs.»
Depuis le séisme ravageur de janvier 2010, qui avait fait plus de 200.000 morts et jeté à la rue un million et demi d’habitants, Haïti a entamé un long processus de reconstruction, ralenti par le contexte politique conflictuel.
La crise profonde entre l’exécutif et l’opposition depuis l’arrivée à la présidence de Michel Martelly en mai 2011 a empêché la tenue des élections locales et législatives.
Les élus municipaux, faute de scrutins, ont été progressivement remplacés par des agents exécutifs intérimaires, nommés directement par la présidence. Le parlement haïtien a lui cessé de fonctionner le 13 janvier dernier. Il y a officiellement 54 candidats en lice pour succéder au président haïtien Michel Martelly.
AFP
http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2015/10/25/haiti-satisfaction-generale-apres-des-elections-pacifiques_1408834

Élections sans incident majeur en Haïti

Dimanche 25 octobre 2015

Près de six millions de Haïtiens étaient appelés aux urnes aujourd'hui pour choisir leur nouveau président et leurs représentants au Parlement et aux assemblées locales. Les opérations de vote se sont déroulées sans incident majeur.
Des échauffourées ont brièvement éclaté à certains endroits, mais les policiers, qui étaient postés à l'entrée des bureaux, y ont rapidement mis fin à l'aide de pistolets à décharge électrique.
Dans certains secteurs de Port-au-Prince et sur le Plateau central, des retards dans l'organisation du scrutin ont prolongé l'attente des électeurs qui souhaitaient exercer leur droit de vote.
Parmi les 54 candidats qui tentent de succéder à Michel Martelly, on note Maryse Narcisse, appuyée par l'ancien président Jean-Bertrand Aristide, et Jude Célestin, les deux favoris des sondages.
Le choix du président sortant Michel Martelly est plutôt Jovenel Moise, un nouveau venu en politique qui souhaite le rétablissement de l'armée. Il s'oppose entre autres à l'ancien sénateur, Moise Jean Charles, l'un de ceux qui a le plus critiqué Michel Martelly, et qui se veut un défenseur de la classe la plus pauvre d'Haïti.
En plus de leur prochain président, les 5,8 millions d'électeurs doivent choisir 129 députés et plusieurs autres représentants locaux.
Le grand défi de l'économie
Le résultat des élections risque de causer une surprise. À cause du nombre élevé de candidats, difficile de prédire qui l'emportera. Les sondages, peu fiables, se sont contredits tout au long des semaines de la campagne.
Une chose semble claire cependant. Peu importe celui qui sera élu président, il aura devant lui de grands défis, dont celui de remettre l'économie du pays sur les rails et de diminuer sa dépendance à l'aide internationale. C'est d'ailleurs en majeure partie grâce à l'aide étrangère qu'a été organisé tout le processus électoral, d'un coût estimé à 70 millions de dollars.
Sécurité à grand déploiement
La sécurité demeure une inquiétude importante. La police nationale haïtienne, formée de 12 500 membres, a joué un rôle prépondérant par rapport à la dernière élection présidentielle en raison du nombre réduit des troupes de maintien de la paix des Nations unies. L'ONU assure une présence au pays depuis 2004, lorsqu'une rébellion violente avait balayé le pays.
Les résultats complets sont attendus à la fin du mois de novembre, selon le Conseil électoral provisoire.
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/international/2015/10/25/004-election-presidentielle-haiti-narcisse-celestin-martelly.shtml

Soulagement en Haïti après des élections sans incidents

Par RFI
Publié le 26-10-2015
En Haïti, la journée de dimanche était chargée avec pas moins de trois scrutins : le premier tour de la présidentielle et le deuxième tour des législatives et des municipales. Dans l'ensemble, c'est le soulagement et la satisfaction qui dominent. Satisfaction car les Haïtiens sont allés voter en nombre. Soulagement aussi parce que le vote s'est déroulé dans le calme alors qu'on redoutait des violences comme lors du premier tour le 9 août dernier.
En Haïti, ce dimanche, les bureaux de vote ont ouvert avec un léger retard à cause des problèmes logistiques, mais au fil de la journée, les gens ont pu voter et les Haïtiens ont fait mentir toutes les analyses qui craignaient une forte abstention, a constaté notre correspondante à Port-au-Prince, Amélie Baron. Ils ont répondu à l’appel des urnes et malgré la chaleur, ils ont patienté dans le calme, en files indiennes à l’entrée des bureaux de vote. Et ces citoyens ont exprimé leur envie de changement, de voir leur pays sortir de l’instabilité politique.
L’autre différence de taille avec la précédente journée de vote, le 9 août dernier, a été la forte mobilisation policière, aux abords et dans les centres de vote. Une présence dissuasive qui a donc empêché les incidents et les fraudes massives. « Je tiens à féliciter le haut commandement de la police », s'exclamait ainsi au micro de notre envoyé spéciale Stéfani Schüler, un habitant du département du Centre, qui expliquait que lors du premier tour des législatives et municipales, « il y avait seulement un policier » dans son bureau de vote.
En fin de journée, Pierre-Louis Opont, le président du Conseil électoral provisoire, a d'ailleurs tenu à remercier l'ensemble des acteurs qui ont permis ce qu'il qualifie « d'exploit » : « A tous ces partis politiques, qui dans la précarité se sont présentés à ce rendez-vous très important pour l’avenir du pays, je leur dis que l’histoire le retiendra. Merci aux électeurs qui ont su garder leur calme et qui, je l’espère, ont pu choisir les nouveaux dirigeants qui auront la charge de l’Etat pour les prochaines années. » Pierre-Louis Opont a également remercié le gouvernement, le président de la République et les forces de l’ordre haïtiennes pour l’organisation des scrutins.
Dans l'attente des résultats
Après cette satisfaction générale, l’heure est maintenant au dépouillement et il va falloir être patient car les premiers résultats ne seront donnés que le 3 novembre, notamment ceux du premier tour de la présidentielle, le scrutin qui suscite le plus d’intérêt auprès de la population.
Trois candidats font figure de favoris, mais ils ne seront que deux à participer au second tour, prévu le 27 décembre. Autant dire que cette annonce des résultats dans huit jours est désormais attendue avec impatience.
http://www.rfi.fr/ameriques/20151026-soulagement-haiti-apres-elections-incidents-presidentielle-port-prince

With No Clear Frontrunner in Haiti’s Upcoming Presidential Election, Polls Indicate Possibility of a Runoff

October 22, 2015
Posted by Jasmine Nelson
Voter-Haiti-AP_700With Haiti’s plethora of presidential candidates, polls show some aspirants rising to the top, though the frontrunner remains unclear. Two polls give different results of voters’ first choice among 54 candidates. The likeliest scenario? No candidate will get more than 50 percent of the vote on Election Day, October 25, and a runoff will take place December 27.

The election marks a second run for president by Jude Célestin of the Alternative League for Progress and Haitian Emancipation party, or LAPEH. Célestin ran in 2011 under the Unity Party of then-President René Préval, but dropped out when the Organization of American States contested the first-round of voting results, which originally put Célestin ahead of Michel Martelly, who eventually became president. With a Swiss education in mechanical engineering, Célestin took a job in the government’s road construction agency in 1997, becoming director in 2006 under Préval. Célestin is running on a campaign platform to boost job creation and fight government corruption. He has also voiced support for harmonious relations with the Dominican Republic.

Jovenel Moïse is the presidential candidate representing the current ruling Haitian Tèt Kale Party, or PHTK. Moïse is promising to further the Martelly administration’s efforts on education and tourism. As head of Agritrans, Haiti’s first agricultural free zone dedicated to exporting bananas, Moïse is also a proponent of creating jobs and increasing exports through the agricultural sector. “In terms of arable land, we have nothing to envy of other producers at the level of the Caribbean,” he said. This summer, Haiti’s Departmental Electoral Office of Litigation (BCED) considered accusations that Moïse used a portion of Agritrans funds to finance his electoral campaign, but ultimately approved his candidacy in June. The presidential bid is Moïse’s first political race.

Presidential candidate and former Senator Moïse Jean-Charles has long been one of the Martelly government’s most vocal critics. He first entered the Senate in 2009 as a representative of the country’s North department, where he served on the Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Finance, and Agricultural committees. He also won three terms as Milot mayor from 1994 to 2004.

Though Jean-Charles represents the Pitit Desalin party, he was a mayor under the banner of Fanmi Lavalas—the party of Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Read more at as-coa.org
http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/10/22/haiti-presidential-candidates-polls/

Haïti: élections en quête de légitimité

Par Sébastien Tanguay
The Associated Press
Les Haïtiens devront élire les deux tiers de leur Sénat et les deux candidats qui s’affronteront au deuxième tour de l’élection présidentielle du 27 décembre prochain, si aucun prétendant n’obtient de majorité ce dimanche.
Haïti reprend le chemin des urnes ce dimanche pour élire 142 maires, 111 députés et 18 sénateurs lors du deuxième tour des élections législatives, en plus de participer au premier tour du scrutin qui doit déterminer son prochain président parmi les 50 candidats – et les 4 candidates – en lice pour le poste. Malgré l’enjeu, plusieurs craignent un taux de participation anémique. Métro a fait le point.
Réparer les institutions cassées
Les chaises du parlement haïtien sont vides depuis que, en janvier dernier, une crise profonde entre le pouvoir exécutif et l’opposition a rendu l’institution complètement dysfonctionnelle. La machine électorale du pays a également connu des ratés au cours des cinq dernières années: l’élection présidentielle de ce dimanche sera la seule à avoir lieu dans les délais légaux. Les élections législatives et locales, elles, ont pris plus de trois ans de retard.
«Sous [le président Michel] Martelly, les institutions se sont affaissées, explique Junia Barreau, qui fut vice-consule d’Haïti à Montréal de 2005 à 2011. Il a joué le rôle d’un superprésident, mais pendant ce temps, l’appareil judiciaire et le processus électoral se sont brisés.»
Des déportés qu’on éclipse
Quelque 250 000 personnes sont menacées de perdre leur nationalité depuis que Saint-Domingue a décidé de déporter les personnes d’origine haïtienne en situation d’irrégularité vivant sur son territoire. Un enjeu qui n’a pas été assez soulevé pendant la campagne présidentielle, selon Jennie Laure Sully, chercheuse à l’IRIS et militante du comité d’action contre la décision 168-13.
«Le gouvernement dominicain effectue des rafles dans des quartiers et ramène tout le monde aux frontières, parfois sans avertir. Des milliers d’Haïtiens s’entassent maintenant dans des camps à la frontière, sans nourriture et sans eau», dénonce Mme Sully.
Haïti en chiffres
Haïti est à l’image des élections qu’il tiendra dimanche: complexe.
• 8,7 G$. Haïti disposait d’un budget de 8,7 G$ en 2014 selon la Banque mondiale, soit 3 G$ de moins que Toronto.
• 2,50 $. La moitié des Haïtiens, soit 500 000 personnes, vivent avec moins de 2,5 $ par jour.
• 50%. La moitié des dépenses faites en santé en Haïti proviennent des organisations non gouvernementales qui y travaillent.
• 1%. Le choléra, qui a infecté 20 000 personnes en 2014 selon la Banque mondiale, ne tue plus que 1% des Haïtiens atteints.
• 10 000. Quelque 10 000 policiers surveilleront les élections dimanche.
• 85 500. Cinq ans après le séisme du 12 janvier 2015, 85 500 Haïtiens vivent toujours dans des camps de fortune.
«Malgré tous leurs problèmes, les Haïtiens se sont tenus debout et ont réclamé la liberté de s’exprimer. Il y a eu une véritable prise de parole en Haïti, et ce, malgré les menaces qui ont cherché à faire taire les débats.» -Junia Barreau, vice-consule au consulat d’Haïti à Montréal de 2005 à 2011. Selon elle, malgré l’affaissement des institutions constaté sous la présidence de Michel Martelly, une conscience citoyenne s’est fait jour parmi la population haïtienne.
«Le gros défi, c’est la sécurité»
«Les Haïtiens sont extrêmement politisés, croit Junia Barreau, ancienne vice-consule au consulat d’Haïti de Montréal contactée par Métro. Les gens ont dû manifester pour avoir des élections, après tout.»
Comment, alors, expliquer la faiblesse du taux de participation qui caractérise les scrutins en Haïti? «Pour que la population aille voter, il faut créer un climat de sécurité, souligne Mme Barreau. Des violences électorales ont fait près de 20 morts ces dernières semaines. Le gros défi dimanche, ce sera d’assurer la sécurité.»
Taux de participation
18%
Lors du premier tour des élections législatives qui a eu lieu le 9 août dernier, seulement 18 % des Haïtiens se sont rendus aux urnes, selon le Conseil électoral provisoire (CEP). En 2011, lors du deuxième tour des élections présidentielles qui a porté Michel Martelly au pouvoir, moins de 25 % des électeurs avaient exercé leur droit de vote.
http://journalmetro.com/monde/862165/haiti-elections-en-quete-de-legitimite/

Congresswoman calls for probe into voter fraud, violence, and intimidation surrounding Haiti elections

WASHINGTON – Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, has written a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, expressing deep concern about the 2015 Haiti elections and the impact they will have on Haiti’s future if the Haitian people do not perceive them to be credible.
ComptonHerald.com | Congresswoman Maxine Waters Congresswoman Maxine Waters has long been a proponent for political stability in the small Caribbean island nation of Haiti.
The ranking member of the Financial Services Committee in Congress, Waters has been a champion for Haiti for many years. Her letter urges Kerry to take all necessary and appropriate action to support free, fair and democratic elections in Haiti.
The letter specifically calls on him to make a clear statement that the violence, fraud, and voter intimidation witnessed in the first round of the elections should be thoroughly and independently investigated, that the individuals and parties responsible for the violence must be sanctioned, regardless of political party affiliation, and that the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) must make the reforms necessary to establish public trust.
A copy of the letter was sent to Kenneth Merten, the State Department’s Haiti Special Coordinator.
During Waters’ 13 terms in Congress, she has visited Haiti on numerous occasions and has worked with her colleagues in Congress, the State Department, Haitian political leaders, and Haitian civil society to promote political stability, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and economic and social development in Haiti.
Following the 2010 earthquake, she introduced the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act (H.R. 4573), which was passed and signed into law by President Obama.
The text of Waters’ letter follows.
Dear Secretary Kerry: As you know, I am a strong supporter of Haiti, and I care deeply about the well-being of the Haitian people. I appreciate the ongoing efforts of the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance to Haiti to improve health, education, nutrition, and economic development for the Haitian people.
As a supporter of Haiti, I respect Haiti’s sovereignty. Nevertheless, I am deeply concerned about Haiti’s 2015 elections and the impact they will have on Haiti’s future if the Haitian people do not perceive them to be credible.
Therefore, as you undertake a trip to Haiti at this critical moment, I urge you to take all necessary and appropriate action to support free, fair and democratic elections in Haiti.
The voting in the Aug. 9 first-round parliamentary elections was marred by massive irregularities, which set a troubling precedent for Haiti’s upcoming Oct. 25 presidential and second-round parliamentary elections. As you stated in your press conference with Prime Minister Evans Paul, it is “imperative” that these elections be successful.
To make these elections successful, I believe it is imperative that the many problems noted in the first round of the elections be addressed so that Haiti’s next government is legitimate and is perceived as legitimate.
Haiti’s first-round legislative elections on Aug. 9 were characterized by disorder, delays and the closing of many polling stations due to violence and fraud. Turnout was extremely low, with less than 18 percent of registered voters participating nationwide. Nearly 25 percent of the votes cast have not been accounted for and were never counted.
Political party representatives – sometimes posing as election observers – frequently attempted to influence or intimidate voters, stuff ballot boxes, and violently disrupt voting, according to local observer groups. The European Union Observer Mission’s deputy head concluded that the disruptions and violence were consciously planned to influence the results.
The election, in the words of one observer group, was “an affront to democratic principles.” Despite an outcry from Haitian civil society and political parties, the CEP has not adequately remedied these glaring problems. Final results recently released by the CEP indicate that the vote will be rerun only in 24 of the country’s 119 constituencies. The CEP ruled that they would accept the votes from constituencies where at least 70 percent of the tally sheets were considered valid, a distressingly low threshold for acceptability, which brings into question the legitimacy of the candidates who will eventually take office.
Despite local observers reporting widespread violence and irregularities, the CEP only excluded 16 out of the nearly 2,000 candidates from the election due to their alleged involvement in election-day violence. These sanctions, however, are little more than a slap on the wrist; candidates found responsible for violence and disruption of the voting process should be prosecuted.

The CEP also warned parties that further disruptions of the elections would not be tolerated and notably singled out two political parties allegedly close to President Michel Martelly – Parti Haïtien Tet Kale (PHTK) and Bouclier – as those most frequently responsible for irregularities and disruptions. However, the CEP announced no significant sanctions to penalize these parties. The failure of the CEP to take stronger action for blatant electoral violations that often rose to criminal offenses delivers a disturbing political lesson: in Haitian elections, crime pays.
The inability or unwillingness of the CEP to properly investigate and sanction parties and candidates responsible for election irregularities has seriously damaged the institution’s credibility. I urge you to send a clear message that electoral violence will not be tolerated.
Many political parties and Haitian civil society are now demanding, at a minimum, an impartial and independent investigation into the Aug. 9 election irregularities. Many are calling for the resignation of the current CEP and the annulment of the entire first round.
Thus far, United States officials in Haiti have refused to recognize the scale of the fraud and violence that affected the Aug. 9 elections. Disregarding the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, U.S. officials continue to insist that incidents of violence and fraud were isolated and did not affect the overall electoral process.
President John Kennedy famously remarked, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Running transparently unfair elections, with the support of the international community, will leave many Haitians to once again conclude that they have no choice but to protest the elections and the consequent government through social disruption.
Indeed, this is what happened in the political cycle of the past four years that began with controversial elections in 2010 and 2011 that brought President Martelly to power, and led to the current crisis where every elected office in the country is vacant save for ten Senate seats and the presidency. Such disruption would threaten to severely limit the next government’s ability to govern and imperil [U.S.] past and future investments in Haiti’s reconstruction.
I call on you to make a clear statement that the violence, fraud, and voter intimidation witnessed on Aug. 9 should be thoroughly and independently investigated, that the individuals and parties responsible for the violence must be sanctioned, regardless of political party affiliation, and that the CEP must make the reforms necessary to establish public trust.
The [U.S.] government should also state unequivocally that it will not provide funding for elections that do not meet the minimum, basic democratic requirements.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@miamiherald.com
 Haiti’s presidential campaign is coming to South Florida.
Candidates in the Oct. 25 presidential elections will be presenting their programs to South Florida’s burgeoning Haitian community Sunday when Port-au-Prince-based Radio Television Caraibes (RTVC) and Friends of Haiti diaspora organization sponsor a presidential debate in North Miami.
It is the first such gathering of Haitian presidential candidates in South Florida. Two other similar forums were held in New Jersey on Sept. 12 and Washington, D.C. on Sept. 15.
While the Washington town hall came under fire because candidates were asked to speak in English as opposed to French or Creole, Magalie Theodore said, “this one is going to be in Creole.” It will begin at 4 p.m. at North Miami Senior High, 13110 NE 8th Ave.
TEN OF 54 HAITIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES HAVE AGREED TO DEBATE THEIR PROGRAMS IN SOUTH FLORIDA.
Theodore, a member of Friends of Haiti, said candidates will be questioned by several well-known journalists including Valery Numa of Vision 2000; Jean Monard Metellus of Radio Caraibes and Robenson Geffrard, the lead elections reporter for Haiti’s Le Nouvelliste newspaper.
So far, about 10 of the 54 candidates seeking to replace President Michel Martelly, who is constitutionally barred from seeking back-to-back terms, have confirmed their participation, Theodore said.
 They are: Mario Andresol, Charles Henri Baker, Steven Benoit, Fred Brutus, Aviol Fleurant, Eric Jean-Baptiste, Moise Jean-Charles, Steeve Khawly, Samuel Madistin, and Michelet Nestor.

The debate takes place with less than a month to go before the , and as uncertainty and a lack of trust continue to dog the nine-member Provisional Electoral Council.
On Monday, the council, known by its French acronym CEP, published the long-awaited final results of the first-round final of the violence- and fraud-marred Aug. 9 legislative elections. Despite an earlier announcement that the vote needed to be re-run in certain constituencies, the council announced that two senators and eight deputies were elected of the 139 posts up for grabs. All others will head into a runoff on Oct. 25, CEP President Pierre-Louis Opont said at a news conference.
The decision and an elections tribunal’s method of calculating the winners in the Senate races has been denounced by several candidates and political parties.
“If the [CEP] has applied the same mode of calculation to all of the candidates, Verite would have had two senators and nine deputes elected in the first round,” the Verite political party said in a letter to Opont. As a result of the CEP’s decision, Verite has two candidates going head-to-head for the second Senate seat in the West department, which includes Port-au-Prince. Former government prosecutor Jean Renel “Zokiki” Senatus was declared a Senator for the West in the first round along with lawyer Youri Latortue for the Artibonite.
THE HAITIAN RADIO VERSION OF CNN’S CROSSFIRE, RANMASE IS WHERE POLITICIANS, PUNDITS, CRITICS AND WANT TO-BE KINGMAKERS VIE FOR A CHANCE TO LOB ACCUSATIONS, CROSS VERBAL SWORDS AND DEBATE HAITI’S FUTURE.
The ongoing controversy, and fears over the controversial calculations, which open the door for a messy presidential election, will be among the leading topics Saturday when politicians, pundits and critics show up for Haiti’s most popular political radio talk show, Ranmase. The show will broadcast live with a special elections edition, beginning at 8 a.m. from Moca Cafe and Lounge in North Miami, 738 NE 125th St.
Like the radio taping, the presidential debate is free. Organizers, however, say it will be first-come, first-serve and individuals should bring their event tickets from registering at Event Brite. For further information go to www.foh2010.com or email info@fohaiti2010.com. Doors will open at 2 p.m. It will also be broadcast live by Radio Television Caraibes and relayed by more than 50 Creole-language radio stations throughout the diaspora and Haiti.
Jacqueline Charles: @Jacquiecharles Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article36982800.html#storylink=cpy

Elections in Haiti: OAS mission urges actors to work together

Published on September 28, 2015
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- The chief of the electoral observation mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) in Haiti, the former foreign minister and minister of defence of Brazil, Celso Amorim, has urged all actors in the electoral process to work together ahead of the upcoming presidential elections on October 25.
oas_logo.jpg "These elections can be a historic moment for Haiti," said Amorim, who last week visited the country on a preliminary mission that concluded on Saturday.
"For that to happen, all the actors -- government, political parties, electoral authorities and the population -- must help to overcome the existing obstacles and to create the conditions that will allow for the political, social and economic development of Haiti," he said.
During his visit, Amorim met with President Michel Joseph Martelly, who was accompanied by the minister of foreign relations, Lener Renauld, and the minister delegate for the elections, Jean Fritz Jean Louis; with the prime minister, Evans Paul; with the minister of justice, Pierre-Richard Casimir; and with the president of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), Pierre-Louis Opont.
In addition, he held working meetings with the presidential candidates, with the representative of the secretary general of the United Nations, Sandra Honoré, and with the director general of the National Police, Godson Orélus, as well as with civil society organizations and the international community.
The EOM/OAS was able to deepen its understanding of the obstacles encountered during the first round of legislative elections, held on August 9, and to exchange ideas on the corrective measures needed to overcome them, so make the presidential elections inclusive and to ensure they take place in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
In this sense, the mission underlined the importance of guaranteeing conditions of trust between all the participants.
The security of the voters during the election and the protection of the electoral process are also issues to which the EOM/OAS has paid particular attention in its meetings with authorities and political parties.
Several actors highlighted the incidents of violence in the past elections. The EOM emphasizes the importance of having adequate security during the presidential elections in October, which will help lend credibility to the electoral process. The continuity of the process according to the law and to established timetables, in an atmosphere of peace and trust, is essential to attaining political stability and the consolidation of democratic institutions.