- Title: HAITI: JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE CAMPAIGNS AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
- Date: 26th November 2000
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI. (NOVEMBER 24, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. SLV JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE'S MOTORCADE ARRIVING AT SQUARE THROUGH CROWDS (2 SHOTS) 0.32 2. SCU ARISTIDE OUTSIDE OF VEHICLE, AMONG THE PEOPLE, KNEELS AND PRAYS; GENEFLUCTS (5 SHOTS) 1.15 3. SLV MOTORCADE DEPARTING 1.33 4. MV MUSICIANS PERFORMING 1.43 Initials Scri
- Embargoed: 11th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Reuters ID: LVASKLU8VCX3HG7PPY6L6XYTYHA
- Story Text: Haiti's capital is on edge, before an election expected
to return Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first freely elected
Haitian leader, to the presidency of the poorest country in
the Western Hemisphere.
After staying silent for much of the election campaign,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide took to the streets on Friday (November
25) to urge Haitians to vote.
Thousands of cheering supporters crowded round his car as
he arrived.
Aristide is a former Roman Catholic priest who emerged
from Haiti's slums to win the presidency in 1990, only to be
ousted in a military coup seven months later and then restored
to power by a U.S.-led invasion force after three years in
exile. Haiti's most popular politician, he is widely expected
to win the election easily.
The vote is being boycotted by opposition parties, leaving
the presidential contest to Aristide and six relative unknowns
who challenged him.
Although their names remain on the ballot, three of those
candidates have, in fact, dropped out of the race because of
the pre-election violence. Aristide's Lavalas Family party has
accused the opposition of fomenting unrest to reduce voter
turnout and taint Aristide's mandate.
Aristide has appealed for order, discipline, security and
peace during Sunday's voting.
The election is seen as another crucial step along Haiti's
tortured path to a stable democracy after decades of
dictatorship and military rule.
But with opposition parties and the international
community shunning the vote, political analysts said it was
uncertain what Aristide would be able to accomplish for his
country.
Election officials said nearly 12,000 polling stations
across this Caribbean nation of 7.8 million people were ready
for voters on Sunday. Some 4 million voters were registered,
but authorities declined to guess at the possible turnout.
Haiti's 6,000-member civilian police force, established
after Aristide disbanded the dreaded army, was expected to be
out in force in the streets on Sunday. But Justice Minister
Camille Leblanc, one of the top national security officials,
was visiting relatives in Paris and had not returned by Friday.
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