The future tenant of the National Palace enjoyed his triumph in his native land, Marmalade, in the north of Haiti, by rejoicing in the applause of his close relations and members of his political platform.

The jubilation among Preval's supporters is, however, matched by the indignation expressed by his more serious competitor, Leslie François Manigat, who is credited with approximately 12% of the votes.

Manigat denounces "a Machiavellian comedy which ended in the imposition of a winner out of the rules of republican legality and far from the requirements of the democracy in civilized country".

This is not, however, the opinion of the Haitian provisional authorities. Prime Minister Gerard Latortue voiced great satisfaction in succeeding in getting the country out of a very difficult situation.

The President's Cabinet director, Michel Brunache, considers the accession of Préval to the presidency, as a result of a political agreement, as an historic day.

Préval was proclaimed president following five days of trouble, which paralyzed the Haitian capital. His supporters wanted to force the Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) to proclaim the of their candidate's victory in the first round.

According to partial results available on the website of the PEC, Préval was on top with 48.76% of the votes. According to the Haitian constitution, a presidential candidate has to obtain 50% plus one vote in order to avoid a run-off election.

More than 2% was thus added to Préval's total to change it to 51.15%, according to a method considered a violation of the electoral decree by François Benoît, the only member of the PEC not to have signed the final results of the presidential elections.

Former president Leslie François Manigat, who came in second position with 11.83% of the votes, emphasised Thursday that he will not give in to the illegality. He announced, however, that he will let it go, while maintaining his right to contest the result.

Préval had already run the country from February 7, 1996 to February 7, 2001. The 1996 presidential election was characteried by very low participation. But the winner was credited at that time with 88% of the votes.

Préval is one of the few presidents to have remained in his country at the end of his term of office. Most of his supporters are among the underprivileged classes.

During his 2006 presidential campaign, Préval, who was far from talkative, attempted to disassociate himself from his mentor, former president Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Instead of campaigning under the banner of one of the Family Lavalas branches (the party of former president Aristide), Préval preferred to present himself under the aegis of the "Plateforme Espoir" (literally in English "Hope Platform"), which drew together the Party "Louvri Baryè" (Open Barriers), "Coordination Resistance Grand-Anse" (COREGA) and country association named "KOZEPÈP" (People's Affairs).