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News from the Caribbean as of
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Haiti almost ready for second round of parliamentary elections
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
by Vario Sérant
Caribbean Net News Haiti Correspondent
Email: vario@caribbeannetnews.com
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: On Sunday, April 9, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) organised a simulation of the electoral day scheduled to occur on April 21, 2006.
The simulation was aimed at familiarising employees of the polling stations with their work space and responsibilities. Practicing improved operations established by the PEC may help avoid the errors that occurred during the first round of elections on February 7.
The electoral council will also assist voters in locating their appropriate poll station.
According to the Executive Director of the PEC, Jacques Bernard, "most of the parameters are ready for the second round of the parliamentary elections.”
However, less than two weeks before these elections, the PEC does not have space to lodge its ‘Results Diffusion Center‘. About seventy buildings assessed by the electoral institution and UN Mission of Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH) do not correspond to the required safety conditions, announced the executive director of the PEC.
Several building owners contacted by both institutions rejected requests to be considered for the ‘Results Diffusion Center.’
This may be attributed to the misadventures following the first round of the elections at a luxurious hotel in Port-au-Prince which also housed the Diffusion Center.
Thousands of partisans of the presidential candidate of the "Plateforme Espoir" (Hope Platform), Rene Préval, invaded this space, forcing the PEC to declare their candidate victorious in the first round.
Ninety Deputation candidates and thirty Senate candidates have to participate in April 21 elections. According to the PEC, the results will be proclaimed one week after the vote.
The president-elect will take the oath of office on May 14. The Hope Platform led by René Préval will not be able to gain an absolute majority at the Parliament, despite possessing the greatest number of candidates in the second ballot.
To mitigate this difficulty, the president-elect initiated talks with the leaders of the political parties after the PEC published the final results of the first round of the parliamentary elections.
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