Tuesday, April 25, 2006

by Vario Sérant
Caribbean Net News Haiti Correspondent
Email: vario@caribbeannetnews.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Giant posters of candidates and controversial commercials disseminated throughout the media by the Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) are the components of the current, dull electoral atmosphere in Haiti.

The electoral campaign was completed last Wednesday evening and the only indications of elections taking place were a few isolated electoral meetings and limited debates between candidates and voters, which were organized by the U.N. mission (MINUSTAH).

Enthusiasm is not overflowing for any of the candidates, despite reports about public support during the first round of presidential elections on February 7. The rate of participation during the first round was estimated at 60% and many fear poor participation during the second round.

More than three and a half million potential voters will elect 30 senators from a pool of almost two hundred applicants, including sixty candidates and ninety-seven deputies. Relations between Parliament and the Presidency were tense during Rene Préval’s reign as Prime Minister in 1991 and president from 1996 to 2001.

For the second round of elections, the president-elect has engaged political parties and leaders who appeared to be solid supporters of government policy. "The Hope platform not having enough candidates to have the majority at the Parliament, we are ready to grasp the hand of other members of Parliament wanting to work with us," the president-elect declared in a press conference on February 22.

On May 14, the president-elect will take the oath in front of the national assembly. Essentially, the future government will have two missions: 1) reinforcement of the institutions envisaged by the Constitution to create conditions for stability, and 2) creation of conditions favourable for private investment to generate jobs, according to Préval.

In addition, he promised to fight against corruption in public administration and to dialogue with various sectors of the country to achieve a consensus on major issues that would enhance the government’s ability to run the country properly.

Due to the second round of parliamentary elections, the interim government declared April 20 and April 21 as public holidays. The government justified this action as a measure "to promote the participation of all the population in the April 21 elections." The authorities also evoked "the need for facilitating the occupation, by the Provisional electoral Council, of the schools and the public administrations selected to (monitor) vote centers.”

Concerning security issues, the generally quiet atmosphere since Rene Préval’s election continues to prevail.

Demonstrating this calm on April 19, Amaral Duclona called upon the inhabitants of the sensitive district of "Cité Soleil" to vote freely. Duclona is wanted by the Haitian police force for alleged involvement in several crimes, including the May 31, 2005 assassination of French honorary consul Henry Paul Mourral in "Cap-Haitien" (North of Haiti).

Even in a visibly quieter environment, most remain cautious about the conditions for keeping security intact. For example, some want to talk about disarming armed groups which the "legal security forces" (Haitian National Police and Mission of Stabilization of the United Nations in Haiti) have not completed and the impunity which many alleged gangs chiefs continue to enjoy, despite the fact they are wanted by police.

In an official statement published in Brussels in February 2006, OXFAM International discussed the existence of at least 210,000 weapons in Port-au-Prince. A representative of this nongovernmental organization stressed that Haitians experienced

two years of armed violence, deploring the persistence of "the law of the guns, in spite of the presence of the UN mission.” A series of steps intended to safeguard the parliamentary poll of April 21 was announced by the "legal security authorities”.

The Haitian National Police decided to temporarily revoke gun-licenses, prohibit circulation of motorcycles and to prohibit gasoline and alcohol sale in cans.

On April 18, the Haitian national police director confirmed that "all is practically ready, concerning security for the second round of the elections." Mario Andrésol assured that some areas would profit from greater monitoring. As an example, he recalled the commune of Maïssade (Center of Haiti) where the police station was set on fire by the supporters of an imprisoned candidate.

On Monday, the military chief of the U.N. mission, Elito Carvalho Siqueira stressed that the troops of MINUSTAH will also be mobilized throughout the country, within the framework of a collaborative security plan with the Haitian national police force.

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