A look at Haitian presidential candidates Jovenel Moise and Jude Celestin

Record ID: 78392

  • Title: A look at Haitian presidential candidates Jovenel Moise and Jude Celestin
  • Date: 19th November 2016
  • Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL VIEW OF STREET SCENE IN PORT-AU-PRINCE MAN HOLDING T-SHIRT WITH IMAGE OPPOSITION CANDIDATE JUDE CELESTIN ON IT AND MAN HOLDING PHOTO OF RULING PARTY CANDIDATE JOVENEL MOISE PUSHES HIM ASIDE MAN HOLDING PHOTO OF JOVENEL MOISE PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - NOVEMBER 5, 2015) (REUTERS) MOISE WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE WITH ARMS UP IN AIR AFTER HEARING THAT HE IS LEADING VOTE MOISE HUGGING SUPPORTER PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - OCTOBER 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF REPORTERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH JOVENEL MOISE (SOUNDBITE) (French) HAITI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FROM HAITIAN BALD HEADS PARTY (PHTK), JOVENEL MOISE, SAYING: "I am coming with new ideas and new projects in my programme that revolve around five axles. In order for this country to develop we need to work hard on these areas. The first is agriculture, the second tourism, third construction, and the fourth is service and on these projects I'm going to work." PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 2015) (REUTERS) CHILDREN WALKING IN FRONT OF CAMPAIGN POSTERS PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - OCTOBER 22, 2015) (REUTERS) WOMAN WALKING IN FRONT OF WALL WITH CAMPAIGN POSTERS OF OPPOSITION CANDIDATE, JUDE CELESTIN SUPPORTERS OF HAITI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JUDE CELESTIN, WITH CAMPAIGN POSTERS VARIOUS OF CELESTIN WALKING AND GREETING SUPPORTERS POSTERS OF CELESTIN PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - OCTOBER 25, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CELESTIN VOTING PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE - OCTOBER 22, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) HAITI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, JUDE CELESTIN, SAYING: "I think that I'm the most qualified because I am the most experienced candidate for the post. I have experience in the public administration, I have experience as an entrepreneur. I have experience as a teacher, I used to teach, I have experience working with people from the lower classes of Haiti and we used to work in the agriculture also, and this is the sum of things that can put me in the best position to be the President of Haiti, because of my experience." VARIOUS OF CELESTIN SUPPORTERS CHEERING DURING RALLY CELESTIN SPEAKING DURING RALLY (NOT A SOUNDBITE) CELESTIN SUPPORTERS GATHERED DURING RALLY
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2016 07:46
  • Keywords: profile presidential candidate Jovenel Moise Jude Celestin election
  • Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • City: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA00158Z2ZPJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise and former government executive Jude Celestin will face each other in a long-delayed repeat election this Sunday (November 20) which could yield the same controversial result as the original October 2015 vote.
    Moise, representing the ruling Parti Haitien Tet Kale (Haitian Party of Bald Heads), named after former President Michel Martelly's smooth scalp, won 32.8 percent of the vote in the first round, held in October, followed by Celestin with 25.3 percent.
    A political newcomer, 48-year-old Moise owns a banana-exporting business in the north of the country.
    "I am coming with new ideas and new projects in my programme that revolve around five axels in order for this country to develop we need to work hard on these areas. The first is agriculture, the second tourism, third construction, and the fourth is service and on these projects I'm going to work," said Moise during a news conference in the Petionville neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince last year.
    Moise enjoyed the political backing of Martelly, who campaigned for him throughout Haiti, typically donning pink, the colour of the PHTK party.
    Like Martelly, Moise presents himself as a non-traditional politician and the child of poor peasant farmers in the northeast of the country.
    Running under the LAPEH Party (Alternative League for Progress and Emancipation of Haiti), opposition candidate Jude Celestin Moise's chief adversary.
    A Swiss-trained engineer who headed a government construction agency, Celestin placed second in the disputed October 2015 first round election.
    The 54-year-old has said he wants to steer away from corrupt politicians Haiti has had in the past and prioritise political stability.
    Celestin missed the runoff in the 2010 controversial presidential elections, but claimed his time as a former government executive, in addition to entrepreneurial and teaching experience better qualified him to lead Haiti's anaemic economy.
    "I think that I'm the most qualified because I am the most experienced candidate for the post. I have experience in the public administration, I have experience as an entrepreneur. I have experience as a teacher, I used to teach, I have experience working with people from the lower classes of Haiti and we used to work in the agriculture also, and this is the sum of things that can put me in the best position to be the President of Haiti, because of my experience," he said.
    The results of the 2015 presidential election were eventually scrapped for widespread fraud after candidates decried the results and Celestin threatened to boycott the second round run-off.
    A repeat election was scheduled for April and then rescheduled for October.
    Twenty-seven candidates are running in the first round and electoral officials have announced they would publish results eight days after the election.
    A recent poll shows that Jovenel Moise and Jude Celestin would still place first and second.
    The second round vote between the two top candidates is scheduled for January 29.
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