By TRENTON DANIEL AND JACQUELINE CHARLES
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com
SANTO DOMINGO — Members of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission met in the neighboring Dominican Republic Tuesday as Haitian officials and the international community searched for a way to break an impasse over the country’s flawed presidential election.
It was the third straight day of calm in Port-au-Prince ; A marked contrast to last week when backers of popular singer Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly and anti-government demonstrators paralyzed the capital with barricades and fires to protest preliminary election results that showed Martelly had been edged out of a runoff by Jude Célestin, Haitian President René Préval’s protegé.
Martelly proposed his own solution Tuesday: Form a new elections council and hold a new election in January in which all 17 candidates could participate. The candidate getting the most votes in that election should win the presidency, he said.
“It’s only like that that I can believe things can recover, that I can have confidence with the retabulation, that the country can reclaim confidence in the electoral process,” Martelly said.
Préval, meanwhile, called on the Organization of American States to provide technical experts to help with both the legal challenges to the vote and a review of the tally sheets. The United States and others hope that will lead to a vote recount.
At this point candidates have until Wednesday to file appeals with the electoral council, and the final results, which could lead to a runoff, are scheduled to be released Dec. 20.
Martelly, according to preliminary election results, finished fewer than 7,000 votes behind second-place finisher Célestin in the Nov. 28 presidential election. Former first lady and academic Mirlande Manigat finished first.
The election crisis comes one month before the one-year anniversary of the devastating quake that hit Haiti and in the midst of a cholera epidemic.
“We are all dedicated to the recovery. This important work rises above the politic of the day,” said Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, co-chair of the reconstruction commission along with former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Most of the meeting focused on the slow pace of the recovery from the earthquake, which left 300,000 dead — by Haitian government estimates — and more than 1 million living in tents and under tarps.
A dozen Haitian commission members signed a letter that aired their frustrations with the recovery process. “The Haitian members don’t even know the names of the firms that are working for the [commission] and what they are doing,” said Suze Filippine, who represents Préval on the commission. “We are just figure heads to rubber stamp decisions when they are taken by the commission.”
The group’s volley came after former Jamaica Prime Minister P.J. Patterson lobbed a criticism of his own. “This thing requires a level of urgency. The people of Haiti can’t wait indefinitely to see something meaningful and tangible in respect to the removal of the rubble . . . people should not be able to live in that situation nearly one year after the earthquake.”
Clinton acknowledged the concerns saying that it’s important for the people of Haiti to see “tangible progress” and reconstruction as a reality not a dream. He said the commission had already approved $2.6 billion in projects to help 1 million Haitians, and had hoped to approve another $500 million by Tuesday evening.
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COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG
The concept is flawed from its first moment. The concept involves counting existing votes. There is no way in which anyone can guarantee that these are the votes that voters put into the ballot boxes. As attorneys and judges would say….”There is no chain of evidence” that traces items from the beginning to the end. There could have been an interference at any point along the route. Their security, since the election, has been questionable with unidentified people walking in and out of the Tabulation Center without showing any ID to the security people. The three candidates, supposedly with the most votes…Martelly, Celestin and Manigat were not the top in the unbiased polls before the election. Celestin and Manigat got single digit numbers, while Martelly was around 15%. The top of the polls found Ceant and Baker. To press on with the present situation will provide a disaster. |
Are you saying that Ceant And Baker are the front runner, hahaha this is funny are you serious? “Baker”.
@Jean-Henry- If you have a problem with the polls, please take it up with the poll gatherers. We just report the news. Nothing more, nothing less.
“The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin
This cannot stand
your love and affection for ceant is admirable; but still he is a thief just like tho others
yes,Jean henry Ceant is your favorite admite i you have been promoting him since the bigening. stop blaming Martely and as a Journalis you can not be partial.tet kale ya ak Wyclef jean you nouveau Haiti.se sa ki kreye gro panik pou preval nan moman saa ak tout gro vole nan boujwazi haityene nan kap tan jude celestin, kom li te dil nan deba yo te fe avel sou plan gouvenman li yan, poul lage lekol lopital ak inivesite nan men yo, mem jan yo deja gen ampil lekol bolet nan tou peyi ya ak klinic kote pifo matereyel yo se ed yo vole, pou al fin toupizi pe la et pi tou pou neg kap viv nan dyaspora kontitinye fe kam te gro chocho.
monche ou kon sak genyen,bam TET KALEM. VIV YOU NOUVO HAITI AK MOUN NEF KI PAT JAM NAN VOLE LAJAN PEYI YA
What a joke, what an insult to our intelligence. The so call International Leaders are part of the problem in Haiti, they are not the solution. Haiti is moving one step closer to a seal faith.
Okay:
Recount what?
Where are they going to find all the stolen ballots?
Are they going to ignore what happened on November 28, 2010?
Come on! Did they see all the containers and boxes of ballots laying on the streets?
So what?
who can benefit from their own criminal act?
How many people should be in jail,if that happen in United States of America, in France, or in Canada?
Mr,. Bill Clinton is trying to teach to the world a very bad lesson on democracy.He needs to be very careful, because, that could create more problems among the United Nations members in the future.
After 24 years, United States of America are failed to fix Haiti.They always make bad choices.They have to be less arrogant when dealing with people.
Haitian people will never forget how was Haiti before 1986.
I hope that a civil war will not taking place in Haiti soon.
195,1986, 1994, 2004, 2010 weight very heavy in the history of political relationship between Haiti and United States.
Ayiti se yon peyi endepandan.Ayiti pa yon kabrit san met.Ayiti se pou Ayisyen.Ayiti pa pou Rene Preavl. Ayisyen pa p pa p ni vann, ni afeme, ni bay dimwatye.
Tout gwo peyi yo genyen anpil te lakay yo k ap gaspiye.Yo pa menm konnen ki kote fwontye yo rive.Ayiti pa menm ase pou kantite Ayisyen k ap viv sou late. Mezanmi,bay Ayisyen yo le pou yo regle zafe yo.chak fwa etranje yo louvri bouch yo nan dosye Ayiti a, se lwil yo lage sou dife revolisyon an ki pral tanmen talekonsa.
Kpmkwa, nou konprann se manti?
Ayiti pa yon koloni okenn lot peyi.
Ayiti granmoun, Granmoun milyone, granmoun poch kreve, yo tout se granmoun.
Ayiti se yon peyi endepandan.Ayiti pa yon kabrit san met.Ayiti se pou Ayisyen.Ayiti pa pou Rene Preavl. Ayisyen pa p pa p ni vann, ni afeme, ni bay dimwatye.
Tout gwo peyi yo genyen anpil te lakay yo k ap gaspiye.Yo pa menm konnen ki kote fwontye yo rive.Ayiti pa menm ase pou kantite Ayisyen k ap viv sou late. Mezanmi,bay Ayisyen yo le pou yo regle zafe yo.chak fwa etranje yo louvri bouch yo nan dosye Ayiti a, se lwil yo lage sou dife revolisyon an ki pral tanmen talekonsa.
Komkwa, nou konprann se manti?
Ayiti pa yon koloni okenn lot peyi.
Ayiti granmoun. Granmoun milyone, granmoun poch kreve, yo tout se granmoun.
I am surprised that my coment has been erased because i said bam tet kalem viv you Haiti ak mou nef ki pat jam gen men yo tranpe nan kob peyi y?
What are you talking about Jean? You are being irrational again.
Also, post your comments in English, so everyone else in other countries can hear your arguments. You are in the Dominican republic, but hundreds of thousands of our readers are in 150 other countries.
Of course it is flawed look at who is in it, SLICK WILLIE Bill Clinton. Haiti is DOOM!.