Haiti awaits poll decision

Set to end political uncertainly:

HAITI: Haitian election officials are set to end months of political uncertainty yesterday by announcing definitive Presidential poll results and revealing who will contest a delayed run-off.

The turmoil deepened earlier this month when former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned unexpectedly. And in another potential twist, the government said Monday it was ready to issue a new passport to former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Quake-hit Haiti first voted back in November but more than two months later, it remains unclear who will be on the final ballot come March 20 when a new leader is chosen to rebuild the shattered Caribbean nation.

The disputed first round descended into chaos when the ruling party’s Jude Celestin was awarded second place ahead of Michel Martelly, a popular singer.

Violent protests followed in December and several people died before President Rene Preval summoned an international vote verification team to check the results amid widespread allegations of fraud.

Organization of American States (OAS) monitors confirmed enough rigging in favor of Celestin to recommend the results be switched to put Martelly in the run-off against Mirlande Manigat, a 70-year-old former first lady.

Preval and the Haitian electoral commission have come under huge international pressure, led by the United States, to honor the OAS report and make the switch.

“We would like to see those recommendations enacted,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday on her first visit back to Haiti since touring the devastation of the January 2010 quake that killed a quarter of a million people.

Clinton met all three main candidates seeking to replace Preval, but repeatedly stressed to reporters that the United States and the international community wanted the OAS report followed, meaning a Martelly-Manigat run-off.

The ruling INITE (Unity) party has said it was withdrawing its support for Celestin, but Preval’s handpicked protege apparently refuses to sign the necessary documentation to annul his candidacy. It remains unclear whether the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) will allow Celestin to keep his place, change the results to allow Martelly in or possibly even announce a three-way race.

Port-Au-Prince, Tuesday, AFP