Haitian electoral process in deadlock
by Vario Sérant
Caribbean Net News Haiti Correspondent
Monday, October 31, 2005
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti: The final list of the
candidates approved to take part in Haiti's upcoming elections was still not
published by October 29, the deadline previously announced by the Provisional
Electoral Council (PEC). The numbering of the
candidates, a stage quite as important, was also postponed. The meeting
between the electoral council and the various candidates to allot a number to
them will now take place on October 31, according to the PEC.
The week also ended without an official announcement by the PEC of the date
for the first round of the presidential elections envisaged initially for
November 20. The electoral adviser, Patrick Féquière, made it clear on October
25 that the PEC was given until the end of this week to finalize certain
procedures before announcing a timetable. The
election campaigns of the candidates, which appeared to gain in urgency during
previous weeks, have now lowered in intensity, due to the uncertainties and
hesitations surrounding the electoral process.
Some observers have found it almost inconceivable that the opening of the
electoral campaign last October 8 had not been preceded by the publication of
the final list of the candidates. One of the
rare encouraging notes of the process is the unexpected rate of registered
voters, which reached 71%. This success of the registration campaign of
potential voters has drawn praise from the secretary-general of the
Organization of the American States (OAS). Miguel Insulza said on October 26,
in front of the Permanent Council of the OAS in Washington, that this
(electoral) campaign has succeeded, with the support of the OAS, "to register
3,400,000 people of age to vote on the national electoral roll".
To be registered is one thing. To have a national identification card (NIC) to
be able to vote, is another. The distribution of the first electoral cards
commenced October 28 in Port-au-Prince in total disorder. There were even
casualties among the people who came late to collect their cards.
Also, some Haitian private media had earlier
reported cases of staff of registration centers who demanded money from
citizens to deliver the electoral card to them. The Provisional Electoral
Council has promised sanctions against the staff of registration centers
engaging in such conduct.
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