Haiti poll denounced as ‘massive fraud’

Mulet has sold Haiti to the highest bidder, and should face charges

By Benedict Mander/FINANCIAL TIMES

Published: November 28 2010 22:32 | Last updated: November 28 2010 22:32

Allegations of “massive fraud” surrounded elections in Haiti on Sunday, leading to fears over the legitimacy of a government that will have to rebuild a country decimated by an earthquake in January.

Twelve of the 18 candidates running for the presidency, including Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly, the frontrunners, called for the election result to be annulled.

“We denounce a massive fraud that is occurring across the country . . . We demand the cancellation pure and simple of the elections,” the 12 said a joint statement.

Polling stations opened late and voters found their names missing from electoral rolls, meaning they were unable to vote. The chaos and confusion led to accusations of ballot stuffing and outbursts of anger and violence.

“Things are incredibly tense,” said Alex Main, an unofficial election observer with the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research. “We visited one voting centre in Carrefour where a group of PREVAL/INITE thugs got in and demolished everything and beat people up. Everyone was pretty upset.

“Mostly there’s just a lot of frustration. People can’t find their names on the lists. They go expecting to be able to vote and they can’t,” he said, emphasising that the problem was widespread and not limited to a few isolated cases.

He said the confusion was likely to have affected turnout, key to producing a credible election.

A low turnout had been expected due to fears of violence, apathy and the cholera epidemic. Turnout was likely to be especially low among the 1.5m “internally displaced people” (IDP) still living in tent cities, many of whom had lost their voting identity cards in the earthquake or were unsure of where to vote.

About a 10th of the more than 4.7m Haitians who are registered to vote are reckoned not to have ID cards.

Late on Sunday politicians were calling for Haitians to take to the streets in protest, leading to concerns that elections it had been hoped might lead to a strong and credible government capable of bringing stability to the benighted country would only deepen the turmoil.

The race for presidential palace, which lies in ruins and is surrounded by one of Port-au-Prince’s largest IDP camps, is being contested by 18 candidates. Polls show none is likely to secure the outright majority required to win in the first round and the vote is expected to go to a run-off between the two leading candidates on January 16. Preliminary results are not expected until December 7.

The frontrunners to replace René Préval, the incumbent, who cannot run for another term, include his anointed successor, Jude Celestin, an engineer whose campaign attempted to overcome growing frustration with the government given that Haiti is still in an emergency situation almost 11 months after the earthquake. Some local polls show Ms Manigat in the lead. She is a university professor, former senator and briefly a first lady in 1988 before her husband was ousted after four months in office.

Other candidates include Mr Martelly, known as “sweet Mickey”, a charismatic pop star whose closing campaign rally ended in chaos and gunfire, resulting in the death of one of his supporters.

It was one of several deaths in the run-up to the elections which aggravated fears that violence and intimidation could overshadow the elections. The campaign also saw attacks by rioters against Nepalese UN peacekeepers who some Haitians accuse of bringing in the cholera.

The UN fears that the potentially lethal disease could spread more than twice as fast as it had originally estimated, with more than 425,000 cases expected in the six months since it appeared. As many as 200,000 are expected by the end of the year, with more than 70,000 since the outbreak.

“We’re looking at the best elections possible under the circumstances,” Albert Ramdin, Organization of American States assistant secretary-general, who is in Haiti to monitor the elections, told The Associated Press. “We know that the [voter] list is not complete. We know that the list is inflated. We know that much more needed to be done to be on time in terms of training of polling station workers.”

The elections were observed by the OAS, the Caribbean Community, the association of francophone states, and the European Union.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.

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2 thoughts on “Haiti poll denounced as ‘massive fraud’

  1. Mulet, ti vakabon eske w pa konnen ke ROchambeau pa ala mod anko ann Ayiti? Ti malandren, ansyen rakete, ansyen pov Gautemaltek, ansyen pye sal. Sel ann Ayiti pou ta jwenn moun k ap lave epi bo pye w.Antouka, si w pa pase anba beton menm ajn avek predesese w la, Heidi Annabi,ou gen pou kite po w kanmenm nan peyi a.

    Ou fout konnen ke Ayiti se peyi kinan w.N ap fout pase woulo a sou ou kanmenm.Ou met rete tann pou pitit Christophe yo dasann Port-au-Prince pou vin manje grenn ou. E n ap manje epi bwe res la nan tafya kanmenm.

  2. Pep Ayisyen, nou met komanse rejwi.
    Premyeman: Mwen pral revoke Edmond Mulet.
    Dezyemman; Collin Granderson nan ka.
    Twazyemman:Mwen pral kwoke chot Romdin.

    Ki donk, tout gwo chabrak yo nan pwoblem.

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