2010-12-02 00:03:00
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti counted ballots Monday from its disorganized election as international observers — and previously critical presidential candidates — played down allegations of widespread fraud that threatened to undermine the first vote since the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Demonstrations against the election were held in St. Marc, Gonaives, Carrefour and other cities, but so far there has not been the nationwide uprising many feared after Sunday’s chaotic vote. Haitian-American singer Wyclef Jean, an influential figure in Haiti, warned that violence would follow if trustworthy results were not quickly announced.
Balloting was marred by rampant disorganization, voter intimidation and violence that killed at least two people. Twelve of the 19 presidential candidates joined forces Sunday while polls were still open to allege the election was rigged in favor of outgoing President Rene Preval’s preferred successor, state construction company chief Jude Celestin.
But on Monday, two leading members of that coalition, both sensing potential victories, backed away from the joint call for the election to be voided. Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, a popular singer, and Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady, stayed away from a second-day news conference with the other opposition candidates.
Martelly staged his own widely attended session with reporters. Though he continued alleging fraud and criticizing Preval and Celestin, he denied belonging to any candidate coalition and demurred when asked if he would follow through with denunciations of the vote and boycott a second-round runoff.
Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday night in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien chanting Martelly’s name and carrying his picture, and there was a widespread perception that he was a front-runner. A runoff is planned if no candidate wins at least 50 percent of the vote.
As the day wore on and ballot bags rolled into a Port-au-Prince industrial park, Martelly said he would amend his comments after consulting with other candidates. He finally told The Associated Press through a spokeswoman in the evening that he agreed with the provisional electoral council’s assessment that the election was largely successful.
Manigat said on her website that she would not be scheduling media interviews until further notice.
Meanwhile, the joint observer mission of the Organization of American States and Caribbean Community said problems — including violence and the fact that thousands of people couldn’t vote because they couldn’t find their names on voting rolls — were not sufficient to invalidate the election.
“It’s up to the people who are saying there was massive fraud to come up with the proof,” said Colin Granderson, a Trinidadian diplomat in charge of the mission.
The U.S. government, which spent $14 million on the election, was “following events very closely” while waiting for OAS assessments, U.S. embassy spokesman Jon Piechowski said.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called the vote “a significant step for Haiti.”
“This is an election that will determine the government that will lead the reconstruction of Haiti. It’s vitally important that this process produce a government that the Haitian people can support,” Crowley told reporters in Washington.
A call for calm was issued by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said through a spokesman that he was concerned about reports of violence and that he “looks forward to a solution to the political crisis.”
Wyclef Jean said the concerns were legitimate. On Sunday he joined Martelly and another presidential candidate, Charles-Henri Baker, as thousands demonstrated against the elections.
On Monday, flashing his ink-stained thumbnail to show that he had voted, the entertainer called for ballot counting to be concluded immediately — well ahead of the Dec. 7 deadline for preliminary results.
“In 24 hours, if we procrastinate, the country will rise to a level of violence that we have never seen before,” Jean said.
Protesters vowed action if Celestin is declared the victor.
“Celestin will bring us the same problems as Preval. We will be here every day until the (electoral council) declares (Jean-Henry) Ceant president,” said Junior Jean-Pierre, 25, a supporter of the lawyer and ally of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
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COMMENT:HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG
I am not an Aristide supporter, and never have been.
However, Jean-Henry Ceant is the one who should be seen as the poll topper. Preval has suggested Manigat/Martelly as an effort to block Ceant from a first round win, or a place in any two-candidate run-off.