Viewpoint: Miami Herald

The anger and frustration brewing just below Haiti’s surface burst into the open with violent protests last week, fuelled by a flawed election and the tiny margin separating two candidates fighting for a run-off spot.

For many Haitians, an election whose unlikely outcome was questioned by impartial observers is the last straw following months of depressingly slow progress to help victims of last January’s earthquake. The elections should be challenged — but not in the streets and not by violence and a breakdown of social order.

The international community has made a commitment to assist Haiti, but the country must have a credible, stable, legitimate government in place before moving on to the next stage of recovery.

This much should be clear: Under the present uncertainty, no one’s going to put more money into Haiti. Any premature effort to scuttle the election or delay a second round of balloting without good reason postpones recovery. Delay prolongs the agony of Haiti’s one million disaster survivors in bleak refugee camps.

To date, Haiti’s feuding presidential candidates have shown little in the way of leadership. They may have good reason to question the results of the Nov. 28 election, but sending supporters into the streets with rocks, bottles and burning tires only promotes fear and disarray.

If they want to help end the violence, the candidates can start by taking part in the three-day appeals process that ends Wednesday while the electoral council reviews the disputed vote. At the same time, they must signal supporters to cease and desist — end the violent protests.

It’s too bad President René Préval chose to become a partisan by openly throwing the government’s support behind Jude Celestin instead of playing the role of statesman. He now has little credibility as an impartial figure and diminished prospects as a mediator.

It is particularly incumbent on first-place candidate Mirlande Manigat and the two contenders who trailed her — Celestin and Michel Martelly — to act responsibly. Manigat reportedly believes she may have won outright — a stretch, considering the first count gave her only slightly more than 30 per cent of the vote. She is holding a strong hand, but trying to avoid a run-off is not the best way to play it. Only 7,000 or so votes separate Celestin, who finished second, from Martelly, who has a groundswell of support and insists he deserves to be in the run-off.

One suggested solution is to allow all three to take part in a second-round election to decide a winner. Considering there were 19 presidential candidates on the Nov. 28 ballot, this may be the best way out of the crisis. A second way out may involve a true recount with a review of actual ballots and voter lists. Either way is better than trying to decide the issue in the streets.

The eyes of the international community are on Haiti’s leaders. This is their country. Do they have the capacity to put the well-being of its 8.5 million people above their own political interests? The alternative is to watch helplessly while international support for Haiti stalls and ultimately dies out. Those are the stakes.