BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND TRENTON DANIEL
The candidates are keeping a low profile. The borders have been tightened and the streets are calm, even though authorities say political figures have paid some people to protest.
What will happen next is the question that anxious Haitians are asking as they wait to see who among the 34 presidential hopefuls of this quake-battered nation will be eligible to run in the Nov. 28 elections.
Haitians woke up Wednesday to the news that the country’s eight sitting members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) would delay a decision until Friday on the eligibility issue.
The council said it made the decision because of the considerable number of appeals under review — including that of former government minister and urban planner Leslie Voltaire, which was still being heard after 10 p.m. Tuesday.
But some say the decision was also political: The government wanted to avoid any connection between the eligibility list and the presence of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff Cheryl Mills, both of whom were in Haiti Tuesday and Wednesday for meetings on the country’s reconstruction following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
Still, the news caught many by surprise and heightened anxiety over a possible electoral crisis. The council’s announcement came at the end of a day of sporadic protests on behalf of presidential contenders, behind-the-scenes pleas by contested candidates and vigils by journalists.
`A CHILD’S GAME’
“When I saw that, I asked myself why,” said Pastor Joseph Pierre Sauvier, 37, who was online early Wednesday searching for news. “To me, it’s a child’s game. They need to have the list ready.”
As people went about their daily struggles Wednesday, the council’s Petionville headquarters — a former Gold’s Gym — was more quiet than the day before. Gone was the revolving door of candidates and their attorneys.
Outside, United Nations troops and Haitian Police stood guard at metal barricades blocking the entrance.
Observers fear some may be seeking to destabilize an already complicated electoral process at a time when there is growing concern that an elected parliament could boot out the new president because his or her qualifying papers were not in order.
ARREST WARRANT
Also a local radio station reported that King Kino, a slum activist and close friend of Jean, had an arrest warrant issued for him, allegedly for threatening violence if Jean did not make the ballot.
Jean did not respond to Miami Herald requests for comment, and Kino could not be reached.
Andresol said he was unaware of the alleged threats against Jean, who often travels with police protection while in Haiti. Jean had not notified him, he said.
Several of the registered candidates are former government ministers who lack the constitutionally required sign-off by both chambers of parliament.
Haiti is no stranger to electoral crisis, especially within the CEP. In 2000, Léon Manus, then-chairman of the CEP, fled the country because his life was threatened when he tried to call attention to irregularities in the controversial legislative elections that year.
Manus refused to ratify the fraudulent 2000 election results, in spite of death threats from the then President Preval, and would-be candidate Aristide. He sought asylum in the German embassy. Manus was flown out of the country and remains in Washington. .
Presidential hopeful Raymond Joseph says Haiti needs an independent electoral council.
Joseph, Wyclef Jean’s uncle and former Haiti ambassador to the United States, said he has heard that the CEP is under political pressure to deem certain candidates ineligible.
“If they don’t, we will go toward a catastrophe,” said Joseph.
Joseph held a press conference Wednesday at Petionville’s Villa Creole, a hotel that saw considerable damage in the quake.
LACK OF DOCUMENTS
Flanked by leaders of his party, he sought to lay out his vision for a post-quake Haiti.
But he is among several individuals whose candidacy is being called into question after failing to provide all of the necessary documents.
Joseph said he sent a messenger to Cap-Haitien on Monday to secure a signature for a report from the head of the government’s accounting office.
Asked about alleged death threats against his nephew, Jean, Joseph said: “You’ll have to ask him,” Joseph said.
“He’s probably operating at a different level than I am. He may feel the threat, but I haven’t talked to him.”
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COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG
Wyclef Jean has become an embarrassment.
He claims death threats, even as he has 24/7 police protection, and has never mentioned the threats to the police.
Ray Joseph tries to distance himself from his nephew’s childish actions.
The electoral process is becoming a stage comedy as Preval tries to muddy the waters.
There will be trouble later this week.