Tensions mount as Haiti waits on re-run election results

Record ID: 78021

  • Title: Tensions mount as Haiti waits on re-run election results
  • Date: 21st November 2016
  • Summary: PORT AU PRINCIPE, HAITI (NOVEMBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) HAITIAN FLAG GOVERNMENT BUILDING VENDOR WALKING WITH PRODUCT BALANCED ON HER HEAD PEDESTRIANS AND VEHICLES PEOPLE WALKING VARIOUS OF VEHICLES AND PEOPLE ON THE ROADS MONUMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) HAITIAN, ALEXIS KEBREAU, SAYING: "Overall the elections went very well. Now we are waiting for a change of government and for the country to be able to move forward in a disciplined way." PEOPLE WALKING OUTSIDE NATIONAL PALACE DAMAGED BY THE EARTHQUAKE STREET VENDORS GENERAL VIEW OF STREET VENDORS WALKING WITH PRODUCTS BALANCED ON THEIR HEADS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) HAITIAN, CLAUDY REMARAIS, SAYING: "We have been through more than 213 years of fighting amongst us. Elections after elections, we never get change. I hope that the 2017 government will improve the situation for the people." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) HAITIAN, JUDE SAINT-HUBERT, SAYING: "We saw that the elections were very well organized. Now, what are we expecting from the new administration? It is going to confront several challenges, such as expensive living costs, unemployment, education, health, and hurricane victims." GENERAL VIEW OF THE STREET PEDESTRIANS AND VEHICLES PEOPLE IN THE STREET VEHICLES
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2016 23:33
  • Keywords: Haiti elections
  • Location: PORT-AU-PRINCIPE, HAITI
  • City: PORT-AU-PRINCIPE, HAITI
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159E3GHV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Haiti waited on Monday (November 21) for delayed results of a re-run presidential election held on Sunday (November 20) in the impoverished Caribbean country which has been in political limbo for over a year and is still reeling from a devastating hurricane.
    Early reports suggested Jovenel Moise, backed by Haiti's last president, Michel Martelly, had taken a lead in early voting tallies. However, the party of another former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, said its nominee, Maryse Narcisse, was headed for victory.
    Electoral authorities said they did not expect to have preliminary results until later on Monday, but it could well be longer.
    "Overall the elections went very well. Now we are waiting for a change of government and for the country to be able to move forward in a disciplined way," said Haitian, Alexis Kebreau.
    The head of Haiti's electoral council, Leopold Berlanger, said he expected to publish final results within a maximum of eight days.
    The vote was first held in October 2015, but then annulled over complaints of fraud in the first round after Moise, the candidate of Martelly's Bald Heads Party, finished ahead of Jude Celestin, the former boss of a state construction company.
    Further disputes ensued and a rescheduled vote due last month was postponed when Hurricane Matthew struck.
    Voters in the poorest country in the western hemisphere hope the next president will boost the economy and repair damage from Hurricane Matthew which devastated the country killing up to 1,000 people and leaving 1.4 million needing aid.
    "We have been through more than 213 years of fighting amongst us. Elections after elections, we never get change. I hope that the 2017 government will improve the situation for the people," said Claudy Remarais.
    "We saw that the elections were very well organized. Now, what are we expecting from the new administration? It is going to confront several challenges, such as expensive living costs, unemployment, education, health, and hurricane victims," Jude Saint-Hubert.
    Martelly left office in February, and since then Haiti has been in the hands of a caretaker government. To win outright in the first round, the top candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the vote or a lead of at least 25 percentage points.
    Failing that, a January 29 second round run-off is likely for the top two finishers. The victor is due to take office in February, and faces a formidable task rebuilding the country after Matthew.
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