Élections en Haïti: encore de multiples obstacles

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haïti – Le président du nouveau conseil électoral en Haïti a affirmé, mardi, que l’organisation de neuf membres faisait face à de multiples obstacles à la conclusion d’un cycle électoral ayant débuté l’année dernière.

Léopold Berlanger a affirmé aux journalistes que les membres assermentés la semaine dernière héritaient d’une crise et ne pouvaient pas soumettre un nouveau calendrier électoral avant la résolution d’une série d’obstacles. Dans le cadre de leur évaluation, les nouveaux organisateurs électoraux tentent même de déterminer combien il reste d’argent pour tenir les élections, a-t-il précisé.

M. Berlanger a tant fait de cas des multiples obstacles qu’il semble impossible que le second tour — pour la présidence et pour une partie des membres de l’assemblée législative — se déroule ce mois-ci comme plusieurs avaient espéré.

Un accord politique négocié en février avait prévu un possible scrutin le 24 avril, mais ces jours-ci, il est difficile de trouver un analyste ou une figure politique croyant possible cet échéancier.
M. Berlanger a affirmé que toute vérification de résultats contestés des rondes électorales de 2015 devrait être autorisée par une «décision politique». Il a soutenu que les organisateurs électoraux ne pouvaient pas prendre la décision de vérifier les votes contestés par des factions politiques.

Sources: http://journalmetro.com/monde/943454/elections-en-haiti-encore-de-multiples-obstacles/

Official: Numerous hurdles to concluding Haiti elections

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The head of Haiti's revamped electoral council said Tuesday that the nine-member body is facing numerous hurdles in concluding a troubled election cycle that began last year.
Council President Leopold Berlanger told reporters that organizers sworn in last week "inherited a crisis" and can't issue a new electoral calendar until a slew of challenges are resolved. As part of their evaluation, the new electoral organizers are even trying to determine how much money remains to hold elections, he said.
Berlanger ticked off so many challenges that it appeared there would be no way a twice-postponed presidential and partial legislative runoff to take place this month as hoped.
A political accord negotiated in February tentatively set the vote for April 24, but lately it has been hard to find any political figures or analysts who believe that date is possible.
Violent opposition protests and public suspicions of electoral fraud favoring former President Michel Martelly's chosen successor derailed a January runoff. It was first postponed in December.
On Tuesday, Berlanger said any verification of disputed results from electoral rounds last year would have to be authorized by a "political decision." He said Haiti's electoral organizers could not make a decision to verify votes disputed by political factions.

Sources: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/04/05/official-numerous-hurdles-to-concluding-haiti-elections.html

UN official criticizes violence in Haiti election

Port-au-Prince (AFP) - A top United Nations official who observed Haiti's elections has condemned the violence and other shortcomings that marred the polling day in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
At least two people were killed during voting August 9 that was disrupted by attacks and other problems that forced the early closure of at least 26 polling centers.
Sandra Honore, who heads the UN mission for stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH), told AFP the incidents were "regrettable."
"If you impose your position by force or violence, this means that your position is weak," Honore said.


The elections, which were four-and-a-half years overdue in a country still struggling from the effects of a devastating 2010 earthquake, were held to choose the Chamber of Deputies and two thirds of the Senate.
Haiti's 5.8 million registered voters had to make their selections from a field of more than 1,800 candidates from 128 parties.
Most political parties are calling for the creation of a commission to assess the impact of violence on the election process, and some even want results from the vote scrapped.
Honore, who is from Trinidad and Tobago and has run MINUSTAH since July 2013, said she wants Haitians to make their objections known peacefully using legal means.
Voters heading to the polls faced a litany of troubles. Even finding the correct voting station and then a voter's name on the electoral list was a challenge.
When people finally got to vote, they often had to deal with poorly designed booths that afforded little privacy.
Some voting centers were extremely small and had to cast their ballots from behind flimsy cardboard partitions, sometimes sharing the same table with officials checking election rolls.
Honore said that in many schools, which had been converted for the day into polling stations, "space was rather limited. The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) will have to review the layout of the polling stations to ensure voters have an easier time exercising their democratic rights."
- Electoral marathon -
Haiti is undergoing something of an electoral marathon, with two other polling days planned by the end of the year.
The second round of legislative elections is set for October 25, and the first round of presidential and local elections will take place at the same time, raising the specter of even more cramped voting stations.
Honore said she was confident the CEP would take into account problems with available voting spaces.
Even though the elections are mainly financed by the international community, Honore says there is no foreign interference in the process.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, suffers from chronic instability and is still grappling with the havoc caused by its 2010 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and crippled the nation's infrastructure.
Parliament was dissolved on January 13, 2015 after lawmakers' terms were not extended, and the legislative chambers have remained empty for months.
In addition to violence, the August 9 elections also suffered from low voter turnout. Honore called on Haitians to vote in greater number at the next poll.
"The Haitian population can present its demands and ensure that its voice is heard and counted," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/un-official-criticizes-violence-haiti-election-173327345.html

HAITI: Hubo baja participación en los comicios, dice Jefa observadores de UE

Por: REDACCION ALMOMENTO
Fecha: agosto 09, 2015
Santo Domingo, 9 ago (EFE).- La jefa de la Misión de Observación Electoral de la Unión Europea en Haití, Elena Valenciano, destacó hoy, “a falta de los datos definitivos”, la baja participación en los comicios legislativos celebrados hoy en el país.
En declaraciones a EFE por teléfono desde Haití, Valenciano señaló que la Misión de Observación Electoral de la Unión Europea en Haití presentará este martes su informe final sobre la jornada electoral después de que mañana, lunes, se reúnan y compilen todos los datos de los observadores de la UE que hoy han estado desplegados por el país.
El informe será presentado a los medios a las 11:00 hora local (15:00 GMT) en una conferencia de prensa que se celebrará en el Hotel Oasis de Puerto Príncipe.
A su vez, Valenciano condenó algunos incidentes violentos que obligaron a cerrar unos 24 de 1.500 centros de votación.
También destacó que aparte de los incidentes se ha registrado una “notable normalidad” en la jornada electoral de hoy en la que ha habido una “presencia policial notable”.
Por último, subrayó el hecho de que se hayan producido “irregularidades” en las listas de personas autorizadas a votar en algunos colegios electorales, pero, agregó, “no ha sido en una cantidad preocupante”. EFE
http://almomento.net/haiti-hubo-baja-participacion-en-los-comicios-dice-jefa-observadores-de-ue/125737

Haïti-Élections : Des partis politiques peu bavards sur le premier tour, violent et chaotique, des législatives

P-au-P, 9 août 2015 [AlterPresse] --- À l’image de la participation populaire, les partis politiques se montrent timides à réagir au déroulement chaotique et violent des Législatives partielles de ce 9 août 2015.
5 millions 800 mille électeurs et électrices étaient attendus aux urnes pour choisir 119 députés et 20 sénateurs parmi 1855 candidats et candidates.
Incendies, vandalisme de bureaux de vote, agressions ont ponctué ce premier tour globalement boudé par les Haïtiens et Haïtiennes.
Toutefois les partis politiques tardent à réagir à cette première journée de vote qui doit être suivie d’un second tour le 25 octobre en même temps que le premier tour de la présidentielle et des élections municipales et locales.
Serge Jean Louis du Mouvement patriotique de l’opposition démocratique (Mopod) n’a pas tenu à réagir, indiquant qu’une réunion de son parti se tient autour des événements de la journée.
Du côté du porte-parole de la Plateforme Vérité, Joanas Gué, silence radio également.
Pour sa part, la Plateforme Pitit Desalin, par la voix d’un de ses membres, considère qu’ « il est trop tôt pour une réaction » et demande « un peu de temps ».
Le Parti haïtien tèt kale (Phtk), plateforme du président Michel Martelly, dit condamner les violences qu’auraient subies ses partisans dans plusieurs zones ce 9 août, dans une note de presse sortie en fin d’après-midi.
Le parti cite son coordonnateur, Gary Jean Baptiste, et l’un de ses mandataires, parmi les victimes, tout en appelant les autorités et les observateurs à s’intéresser à ces cas.
Alix Richard de la Fusion des sociaux-démocrates a fait savoir que son parti, qui a récemment rendu le gouvernement orphelin de trois membres, était en train d’évaluer la situation.
Toutefois, « cela s’est très mal passé [aujourd’hui]. Et cela hypothèque la crédibilité du processus, et la suite des élections », confie-t-il. Avouant son incrédulité devant la satisfaction affichée par les autorités, Richard déplore : « Soit ils n’ont pas les mêmes informations que tout le monde soit ils prennent les Haïtiens pour des imbéciles ».
Pour sa part, le candidat à la présidence et ancien coordonnateur de l’Organisation du peuple en lutte (Opl), Sauveur Pierre Etienne, est dans l’expectative, relevant « un contexte compliqué » pour le déroulement du premier tour de ces législatives.
« Certains partis, comme Phtk et Bouclier, proches du pouvoir, ont attaqué nos partisans, ou se sont affrontés. Dans certains endroits il y a eu des bourrages d’urnes », constate Sauveur Pierre Etienne, indiquant avoir perdu des partisans à Ennery (Artibonite).
Plusieurs cas de décès ont été signalés mais la police n’a pas encore donné de confirmation à ce sujet.
« Le Cep (Conseil électoral provisoire) aura à prendre ses responsabilités », dit-il. « Le pays peut tomber dans une catastrophe ».
Le Réseau national de défense des droits humains avait annoncé une possible catastrophe électorale pouvant déboucher sur une crise.
Sauveur Pierre Etienne croit pour sa part que le « Cep en fonction de son évaluation aura à exclure les partis mêlés aux actes de violence. Nous verrons alors si nous devons prendre le Cep au sérieux, s’il n’est pas inféodé au pouvoir ».
166 partis et regroupements politiques ont été agréés pour les élections législatives, présidentielles, municipales et locales de 2015. Chacun doit recevoir une subvention de la part du gouvernement dans le cadre d’un budget de l’ordre de 500 millions de gourdes. 55 hommes et femmes sont en course pour remplacer Michel Martelly en tant que 54e président d’Haïti. [kft gp apr 9/08/2015 17 :30]
http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article18647#.Vch0kfntlBc

Haïti. Des élections peu crédibles

Des retards et des incidents ont émaillé les élections législatives, qui se tenaient dimanche 9 août à Haïti. Ce scrutin compliqué n’augure rien de bon pour la suite, estime le site d’information Alterpresse.
Dimanche 9 août, avec quatre ans de retard, se sont tenues les premières élections législatives depuis l’arrivée au pouvoir de l’actuel président, Michel Martelly en 2011. Alors que les résultats ne seront connus que dans quelques jours, “de multiples interrogations se posent sur l’avenir du processus”, estime le site d’information haïtien Alterpresse. Ainsi, malgré la “satisfaction” exprimée par les autorités, la participation est restée faible (on parle de 15 %), ce qui “risque d’entacher la crédibilité des futurs ‘élus’”.
Le scrutin a été marqué par un climat de violence : trois bureaux de vote ont été saccagés à Port-au-Prince, tandis que 26 importants centres de vote ont fermé avant l’heure prévue. “Le déchaînement de violence, avec notamment le sac, voire l’incendie de plusieurs centres de vote [...], a impacté sur le déplacement ‘réfléchi’ des potentiels votants”, critique Alterpresse, qui accuse certains responsables politiques d’avoir organisé un chaos en autorisant un très grand nombre de candidats.
Le Premier ministre contraint de démissionner
Les Haïtiens ont en effet “été surpris par la flambée, sans précédent, de nouveaux partis politiques, dont un grand nombre a été créé à l’ombre de l’administration politique de 2011” ; ainsi, il y avait près de 1 800 candidats, pour 139 postes de parlementaires à pourvoir, la plupart “sans aucune expérience porteuse”, explique le site d’information. “Au lieu d’encourager la participation populaire, cette stratégie de ‘diviser pour régner’ s’est aliénée une bonne partie de l’électorat, contraint de choisir parmi des prétendants et des prétendantes ‘peu crédibles’.” D’autant que beaucoup d’entre eux cherchent avant tout à “se servir des ‘privilèges de pouvoir’ pour imposer des vues claniques”, craint Alterpress.
Cinq ans après, Haïti toujours menacée
La plupart des candidats veulent “asseoir un modèle politique totalement anachronique mais ouvert sur des intérêts étrangers, sans aucune articulation avec des aspirations nationales”, poursuit le site d’information, qui dénonce les “pirouettes” de la communauté internationale, qui devrait valider les résultats du scrutin alors qu’il n’y a pas eu de “préparation institutionnelle appropriée”. La validité du scrutin sera examinée par le conseil électoral provisoire (CEP), qui devra décider si des votes doivent être réorganisés dans les circonscription où des incidents sont survenus.
http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/haiti-des-elections-peu-credibles

Disorder as Haitians vote in long-delayed elections

By EVENS SANON, Associated Press
Updated 1:42 am, Monday, August 10, 2015

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Delays, disorder and sporadic violence troubled Haitian legislative elections on Sunday as voters chose lawmakers for the next Parliament after a yearslong wait.
The legislative elections had been postponed for nearly four years due to a political showdown between Haiti's executive and opposition, and they have been billed as a crucial test of the country's electoral system ahead of a presidential vote in late October.
Sunday's first round sought to fill two-thirds of the 30-member Senate and the entire 119-member Chamber of Deputies in the nation still struggling to recover from a 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital and surrounding areas.
But a number of polling stations across the Caribbean country of 10 million people had to wait for ballots a few hours after voting was supposed to start at 6:00 a.m. (1000 GMT). In sections of Port-au-Prince, voters also grew exasperated after being told they couldn't cast ballots because their names weren't on official voting lists.
"This is very frustrating. Are they trying to discourage voting?" gardener Gerald Henry complained after election workers turned him away.
In the crowded capital, at least three voting centers were shut down by authorities after fistfights broke out as partisans attempted to stuff ballot boxes and engage in other visible irregularities. At one voting center in downtown Port-au-Prince, groups of young men ripped up paper ballots as heavily armed police shot into the air to re-establish order. Rocks were thrown in response before authorities closed the polling station.
Local media also reported the closure of numerous polling places in other sections of the country and scattered arrests of people accused of voting more than once. Observers from various political parties complained election officials did not give them access to voting centers.
Still, Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul said the government was satisfied with how the legislative elections were handled, "despite the incidents that we would like to firmly condemn." Voting was extended for two hours at some polling stations due to ballot delays earlier in the day.
After voting ended, Pierre-Louis Opont, the head of the country's Provisional Electoral Council, told reporters that 54 polling stations, roughly 5 percent of the total, were closed Sunday amid violence and other disruptions. He also disclosed that a council staffer stole some of the elections material and vanished, but Oponte declined to provide more specifics other than the police were looking for him.
"We still don't know what his intention was," Oponte told reporters.
Authorities were also trying to confirm reports of one election-related fatality. "We know that there were instances of violence throughout the country," Oponte said.
The vote took place roughly eight months after Haiti's legislature was dissolved because the terms of lawmakers expired before new elections could be held.
It's the first election Haiti has held under President Michel Martelly, who took office in May 2011 and is in the final year of a five-year term. He has governed by decree since Parliament dissolved in January and cannot run for a consecutive term. In the absence of elections, Martelly has been accused of stacking the deck in his favor by appointing mayors and other municipal officials to replace those whose terms expired.
Roughly 5.8 million people were registered to vote and over 1,850 candidates from nearly 130 political parties competed.
Elections in Haiti are never easy and the Provisional Electoral Council has long been criticized for votes plagued by disorganization, ballot irregularities and fraud allegations.
Final results were not expected for several days and a significant amount of work will be needed to get the next Parliament up and running after it is installed. The first round of Haiti's presidential election and the second round of local elections are set for Oct. 25.
After voting at a heavily secured polling station, Martelly was asked what he thought of Sunday's disorder. He told reporters: "I hope that the election officials are better organized for the presidential elections in October."
___ AP writer David McFadden contributed to this report from Kingston, Jamaica.
http://www.newstimes.com/news/world/article/Haitians-votes-in-long-delayed-legislative-6433662.php#photo-8439392

Despite appearances, Haitians not wild about elections

Delayed parliamentary polls set to be held on Sunday, but citizens more concerned about poverty and high unemployment.
08 Aug 2015 02:25 GMT | Haiti, Politics, Latin America
Rob Reynolds
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - At the Scoop FM talk-radio station in Port-au-Prince, it's all politics all the time.
In a country so poor that televisions are a luxury and more than half of adults can't read or write, radio is the best way for political candidates to reach out to potential voters.
On the day Al Jazeera visited, candidates packed the ramshackle halls and waiting rooms at the station, waiting their turn to go on air and be interviewed.
Among them was a distinguished looking man named Fred Brutus, who is running for president under the banner of the Parti Federaliste Haiti.
Inside Story: Protecting Haiti's homeless "Radio is the best medium in Haiti," Brutus declares. "You can use it and have a lot of capability to have success in politics."
To have success in the crowded, chaotic field of candidates running for office in Sunday's first round of parliamentary elections, Haitian office seekers also throw boisterous street parties. An Al Jazeera team wandered into a political rally under way in a back street in the Petionville district of Port-au-Prince.
Hundreds of people, many wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the likeness of a local candidate for the chamber of deputies, danced, sang, and pounded out an infectious beat on an array of drums. Teenage revellers far too young to vote gyrated and blew long blasts on home made vuvuzelas.
Watching this scene, one might think that Haitians are wildly excited about the upcoming election.
But a young man who gave his name only as Rudy told us most of the people were paid to participate.
"Some of the people here, they already got their money," Rudy said. "Me and my boys, we are just waiting till after the rally to get paid."
Away from radio stations and rallies, most Haitians we spoke to couldn't care less about the elections.
Every morning, Micheline Joseph sets out an assortment of battered aluminium pots and pans beside a busy street. She's a street food vendor, offering plates of rice topped with greenish sauce for sale to passers-by. The elections are low on her list of priorities.
"I voted in the last election and all that happened was the price of rice went up, and then beans got more expensive," she said. "I don't see how elections change anything."
Her views are fairly typical of many in this country, where unemployment is at 40 percent, the average income is $840 per year, and most people live in severe poverty.
Down the block from Micheline Joseph, Nicholas Simon sat behind the tiny stall where he scraps out a living carving rubber stamps and fixing broken watchbands.
He says he's completely fed up, with politics, the economy, and even his country itself.
"Right now, I'm doing everything I can to leave this country. I can't stand living here," he told us.
A neatly dressed man, who gave his name as Anthony, stopped and showed us a briefcase full of carefully printed diplomas and letters of recommendation, certifying him as an electrical engineer.
He's spent the morning looking for work. When asked if there were many jobs for people like him in Haiti, he merely laughed.
One way to get a job is to try to get elected.
There are 40,000 Haitians running for office, including 70 presidential candidates, 1,800 candidates for the 118-seat chamber of deputies, and thousands running for local office in towns and villages.
In Port-au-Prince, the unsmiling faces of candidates stare down from posters plastered on every wall, door, and telephone pole.
Running for office costs money, and some Haitian candidates say there's a lot of dirty gourdes (the Haitian currency) floating around.
"A lot of people use bad money, like drug money and things like this," said Fred Brutus. "We have this problem in Haiti. And money talks, unfortunately."
Would-be Senator Jean Renel says he wants nothing to do with shady campaign funding.
"I've got people calling me every day, offering me money, but I refuse them," Renel says. "I want to be able to show the public exactly who is financing my campaign."
In Haiti, politics and violence go hand in hand.
In one of the worst incidents reported so far, a group of supporters of a local candidate gathered on a street corner in the district of Carrefour the night of July 22. A man on a motorcycle roared up, produced a pistol and began firing. He killed three men and wounded several others before escaping on his motorcycle.
When we visited the scene of the killings, a white banner was strung across the street, bearing the names of murdered men.
People in the neighbourhood believe the killings were an attempt to intimidate and create fear, to keep people away from polling places on Sunday.
Political violence has a long history in Haiti, and there were killings in previous election cycles in 2010 and 2011. This time, political analysts say tensions are high.
RELATED: US Red Cross 'squandered millions' in Haiti aid efforts
"It looks like violence is part of the equation now," says analyst and blogger Jean-Junior Joseph.
"Currently we have heard a lot of some examples of violence in many places. The more people who are interested, the more violence is an issue, and the more explosive it is."
Parliamentary elections were supposed to be held four years ago. But President Michel Martelly and his opponents couldn't agree on the makeup of a provisional electoral council as required by law.
So the vote was repeatedly cancelled and postponed, and the government machinery ground to a halt.
We visited the modest pre-fabricated buildings that now house Haiti's parliament (the much grander marble Palais Legislatif was destroyed in the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010).
A guard let us into the completely empty chamber of deputies. Overturned chairs were pushed against the wall, and the red-and-white bunting at the speaker's platform imparted an effect of sadness.
Someone appeared to have left an uneaten lunch on one of the deputies' desks. Since the elections were delayed for so long, all of the deputies' terms expired, and the chamber hasn't seen a single session since January.
Since then, President Martelly has ruled by decree, with an unelected group of cabinet ministers running things. Martelly's opponents accuse him of deliberately stalling the vote.
At the electoral council offices, Executive Director Mosler Georges assured us that this time, the election would go ahead as scheduled.
Georges says everything is prepared for the voting, but results will not be known right away.
"In Haiti there are very remote areas, difficult to access," he explained. "Getting the ballots from those places will take three or four days. But we should have preliminary results within eight to ten days after the election."
A detailed map on the wall of Georges' office showed hundreds of polling stations. Many of them were marked with bright red ink. "Historically all these places have a high risk of election day violence. That's why we have marked them in red," he said.
Serge Therriault, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who commands the international peacekeeping force's police division, says there will be enough Haitian National Police, backed up by international contingents, to ensure that polling-place disorder doesn't get out of hand.
Back on the street, Micheline Joseph had attracted a customer at last.
"If the election happens, it happens," she sighed, spooning a dollop of green sauce over the rice. "If not, it doesn't concern me very much."
For many Haitians, a plate of rice means a lot more than a slate of politicians.
Source: Al Jazeera
http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/americas/2015/08/haiti-wild-elections-poll-politics-port-au-prince-150807230758121.html

Is widespread carnage planned for Haiti elections?

In November 1987, dozens of voters around Haiti  were killed in organized
election-related violence, like those pictured here at the Argentine School
at Ruelle Vaillant. In light of recent  growing violence, could similar
bloodshed mar upcoming elections?  Photo: Tony Savino 

On Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) of the government of President Michel Martelly and de facto Prime Minister Evans Paul plans to hold the first round of legislative elections to fill two-thirds of the Senate (20 seats) and the entire Chamber of Deputies (119 seats).
According to the CEP, more than 5.8 million Haitians are expected to vote, although campaigning, which ends Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, has been very restrained due to confrontations between various candidates’ supporters.
We expect a lot of trouble. As we have often warned, this electoral farce has been organized in a context of violence, corruption, and intimidation. Is there not a hidden hand that pulls the strings of violence which has already begun?
The CEP professes that it is working in good faith for the elections’ success, as does the government. But their actions suggest they are setting the stage for an electoral disaster. Having a whiff of the violence in the air, the CEP issued a statement reminding candidates that the Electoral Law’s Article 119 gives it legal authority to disqualify any candidates found guilty of violent acts and to suspend from electoral contests for a period of up to five years any political parties or groups found to be instigators. But, in addition to political parties, shouldn’t the CEP also address the verbal abuse and insults with which President Martelly publicly pelted a woman at an electoral rally in Miragoâne last week?
Fritz Jean Louis, the minister responsible for electoral affairs, has called on voters not to vote for candidates who are the cause of violence during the electoral campaign. But following Martelly’s violent public tirade in Miragoâne when campaigning for his party the PHTK, shouldn’t Minister Jean Louis urge people not to vote for Martelly’s candidates?
A few days before the elections, even Sen. Andris Riché, the Senate’s de facto president, has expressed grave doubts, saying that “the conditions are not yet ripe for the holding of good elections in the country.”
Last Sunday, Aug. 1, the military occupation force known as the UN Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) organized a “Concert for Peace” in Fort National. During this public relations event, MINUSTAH’s chief, Sandra Honoré, called on Haiti to promote and choose peace at a time when outbreaks of electoral violence are growing. Ironically, over its 11 years in Haiti, MINUSTAH has been one of the greatest instigators and causes of violence.
The people must be vigilant and very careful. The growing violence may be planned, as it was in the Nov. 29, 1987, elections. Generalized carnage is perhaps being prepared to terrorize, confuse, and further weaken the masses, the driving force of mobilizing for change, with the same aim as the last two coups, namely to remove them from the political scene.
Here is a partial list of representative cases of violence and killings reported by the Haitian media over the last month of the electoral campaign.
July 5: Wilkenson Bazile, a family member and assistant to CEP member Jaccéus Joseph, was shot dead around 7:30 p.m. in Delmas by assailants on a motorcycle. Jaccéus calls it an “assassination.”
July 22: In the morning, Pierre Lafond, the Fusion party’s candidate for mayor in Marigot, died at the Saint-Michel hospital in Jacmel after having been shot by a security agent known as Bissainthe, who works for the Pont party’s candidate for deputy, Déus Deronette.
July 22: Around 10 p.m., in the neighborhood of Avenue Christophe Chanel (in the commune of Carrefour), Shiller Anthony (32), Roody Raphael (33) and Jackson Pierre (42) were shot to death by unidentified individuals on motorcycles. Witnesses said the three men were putting up posters for Jacques Beauvil, the VERITE platform’s candidate for deputy of Carrefour.
July 29: The Respè party’s candidate for deputy Denis Pierre Lima, for the district of Torbeck/Chantal, was attacked in the afternoon by an armed group led by former deputy Guy Gérard Georges, the Lavalas Family’s candidate.
July 31: Great tension reigned in Delmas 6, inside the Daniel Fignolé high school, where Senate candidate for the West Department, Marie Liliane Vedrigue-Hersche, of the National Unity Force party (FUN), accompanied by her campaign staff, had come to make the opening kickoff in a soccer championship. Witnesses said sporadic shooting was heard in the area. The candidate was evacuated for her protection by her security guards.
Aug. 1: Germain Fils Alexandre, the VERITE platform’s candidate for deputy in Petit-Goâve, claimed that he and his supporters had been attacked by party members of Martelly’s Bald Headed Haitian Party (PHTK).
Aug. 2: Two people were injured by gunfire and many car windshields were broken during a campaign rally for Abel Descollines, a PHTK candidate for deputy. Descollines accused unnamed supporters of some of his opponents.
This past week: in the Rivière Froide area, one of the supporters of the Fusion party’s candidate for deputy of Carrefour, Nadine Anilus, was cut in the ear by a knife or machete.
http://www.liberationnews.org/widespread-carnage-planned-haiti-elections/