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Article Excerpt
The international community ganged up on reluctant Haitian officials Feb. 16 to award the delay-plagued presidential election to Rene Preval. Vote counting was halted Feb. 15, after leading candidate Preval alleged fraud and called for an inquiry. The count had been 90% completed, and Preval held an insurmountable lead, 48%, against his nearest rival, Leslie Manigat, whose tally did not surpass 11.8%. Both candidates are ex-presidents. Preval's term (1996-2001) was sandwiched between the terms of Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1991, 1994-1996, 2001-2004). Manigat ruled briefly in 1988.
At stake was a first-round victory for Preval. If his total did not reach at least 50% plus one, the Constitution mandates a runoff. Early in the counting process, Preval was ahead by a very wide margin, but his percentages began to drop suspiciously, people began to protest in the streets, and signs of crisis emerged.
On Feb. 11, two members of the Conceil Electoral Provisoire (CEP), Patrick Fequiere and Pierre Richard Duchemin, charged there had been manipulations to force a second round. This accusation brought on a massive demonstration by Preval supporters, mostly the very poor, and partisans of Fanmi Lavalas. Preval ran on his own party ticket, Lespwa, but fell heir to the Lavalas vote partly because of his association with Aristide and partly because of his past performance as president.
The protest was peaceful, although clashes with security forces resulted in one death. Martin Landi, in charge of the Electoral Tabulation Center of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), discounted the killing as an "isolated incident." "It was intended merely to show their presence and to make it clear that they do not want to vote in a second round," said Landi.
But historically, there is...
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More articles from NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs
LITTLE PROSPECT OF AN INDIGENOUS PRESIDENT IN GUATEMALA., February 16, 2006
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