Election

Haiti Postponed Election

On Wednesday, January 6th, after receiving confirmation from the Provisional Electoral Commission (CEP) President Martelly has announced that a new election day for the presidential and legislative runoffs has been scheduled on January 24, 2016. Earlier on January 1, 2016, on the Haitian Independence Day, President Martelly had announced that as per CEP's information to him such election has to be held latest by January 17th, 2016, if not, there will be no time left to fulfill the constitutional mandate of inaugurating a new president within February 7, 2016. On January 4th, Pierre-Louis Opont, the chief of CEP, informed President Martelly that 12 days of preparation for a postponed runoff will not be sufficient. Then on the next day, on Tuesday evening, he (Opont) informed that he could "guarantee" that the council would be able to organize the final election round one week later. In the last month, on December 16, 2015, the country has celebrated its 25th anniversary of the first democratic election held back in 1990.

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Here is a picture of Me Gedeon Jean, Member of the Presidential Election Evaluation.

Although the Electoral Commission of Evaluation has reported gross irregularity in the October 25, 2015 election, its conclusions and recommendations were well accepted and welcomed by President Martelly's Haitian Têt Kalé Party (PHTK). However, Gédéon Jean, the Secretary of the Independent Electoral Commission of Evaluation (CEEI) is not happy with its simple conclusions and recommendations. He has denounced them and did not sign the report of the said commission, although his name was printed at the bottom of the document. He has criticized the recommendation because he has found the percentage of fraud was alarmingly noticed over 15% of the minutes. He has demanded a thorough investigation of the minutes to purify the whole process from massive frauds. Gédéon Jean is also a representative of the National Defense of Human Rights Network (RNDDH).

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Here is The G8 and Fanmi Lavalas

The G8, Fanmi Lavalas and other opposition parties are not satisfied with the announcement of 'Commission of Electoral Evaluation' by the Martelly administration. They, along with other independent observers and U.S media like 'The New York Times', are of opinion that the October election in Haiti, to choose a successor to President Michel Martelly, has been marred by so much ballot tampering, illegal voting and other abuses that it could be denounced as 'illegitimate'. Some of the observers are of opinion that if G8 could find a consensus and form an alliance with Fanmi Lavalas, and all the opposition can stand up as one man against Martelly's handpicked successor Jovenel Moses in the December 27th election, they would be able to prevent the forceful imposition of Jovenel Moses as Martelly's successor.

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As Michel Martelly getting ready to leave office, many are asking one question: who will replace him either temporarily or permanently?. Who will have this heavy task to put things in order. So far, the three most likely candidates are: 1) the current judge of the Court of Cassation Jules Cantave, 2) the president of the Senate Jocelerme Privert 3) the actual Defacto Prime Minister Evans Paul.

On the other side, I also know that based on interest, many people would see it differently. Do you see it the same way i do? Do you see something evolving that i have not seen yet?

Do you have any suggestion?

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The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) looks currently like a sinking ship where all passengers are trying to get out from before the worst happens. Pierre Manigat Junior is the latest casualty by becoming the fifth member to resign. On Saturday it was made public that Pierre Manigat Junior would be resigning the CEP, bringing it to just four members. At this point, we can all conclude that January 24, 2016 election day not possible.

Haitian Kreyol:

Pierre Manigat Junior vin senkyèm manm CEP ki bay demisyon

Konsèy Elektoral Pwovizwa a (KEP) sanble kounye a tankou yon bato ki ap desann kote tout pasaje yo ap eseye soti deyò avan bato sa koule. Pierre Manigat Junior se senkyèm manm nan KEP ki bay demisyon li. Nan samdi yo te di ke Pierre Manigat Junior ta dwe kite CEP a. Nan pwen sa a, nou ka konkli ke eleksyon 24 janvye an pa posib.

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Candidate for President Jovenel Moise has a major p[roblem. Just 10 days before a scheduled election, his opponent Jude Celestin made it public that he will not be running. Several demands were made by the camp of Jude Celestin, including reform at the CEP,

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Here is a picture of the protest following the 2010 Haiti election. The crowd was protesting for their candidate Michel Martelly who was not allowed to participate in the 2010 Election runoff.

Michel Martelly was urged to talk to the population in the streets to calm them. Due to security reasons, he was not allowed to do it in public. Instead, Sweet Micky went on National radio to thank the crowd and to be on the look out for infiltration

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Here is a picture of CEP President, Pierre-Louis Opont.

On November 30th, 2015, Pierre Louis Opont, the President of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), had announced that the formation of an independent Commission of Inquiry, as per the petition of the G8 and other political activists, to verify all the Minutes and the preliminary presidential election results would be unconstitutional because the electoral decree does not grant the CEP any authority to form such a commission. We may recall that on November 23, 2015, first eight losing presidential candidates (G8) representing 49.81% of total votes, requested the CEP to form an independent commission to inquire about the alleged frauds affecting the integrity of the October 25, 2015 election. Furthermore, Louis Opont has said, the results were published with confirmation from the Tabulation Center Votes (CTV) and the Office of the National Litigation (BCEN).We may further recall that, following the publication of 2011 election results, the Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince lodged allegation concerning the corruption and fraud within the CEP to Pierre Louis Opont, then the Director General of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). However, Opont rejected their allegation and reiterated about the acceptability of the results as the contested results were approved by the National Complaints and Challenges Bureau.

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Here are the pictures of the two candidates who will be running in the run off election, Jude Celestin against Jovenel Moise.

As per the announcement of Pierre-Louis Opont, the director general of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) on November 5th, the names of the first two finishers in the presidential race are, Jovenel Moïse from PHTK party (511,992 votes or 32.81% of total votes) and Jude Célestin from LAPEH party (394,390 votes or 25.27% of total votes. However, the lead of Jovenel Moïse has raised suspicion of massive frauds. Before the election, some of the pre poll approval ratings or likeliness of the candidates to win the presidential election had shown conflicting results. One cell phone based poll conducted by Miami-based Integrated Communications and Research had given Jovenel Moise the top spot with 20.5% support and Jude Celestin, second place with 12.8%. Meanwhile, Port-au-Prince-based BRIDES' in-person survey had given Celestin a commanding lead of 31.3% to Moise's 12.9%. Since none of them could reach the 50% plus vote benchmark in the October 25 election, or a lead over 25% votes, a run-off election has been scheduled on December 27, 2015.

Jude Celestin Realizes, He Cannot Fight Jovenel Alone
On a note dated November 29, 2015, eight losing presidential candidates (G8) representing 49.81% of the vote, including Jude Celestin, the number two candidate for presidency, have signed an ultimatum notifying their withdrawal from the December 27 run off unless some preconditions are fulfilled. The members of G8 are of opinion that there could be no credible election with the present CEP under the presidency of Joseph Michel Martelly along with the support of present Police Nationale d'Haïti (PNH). They have also demanded a transitional government which would be empowered to make necessary revisions in the constitution to hold credible free and fair election within next 24 months. An exit poll conducted on the election day on October 25th, 2015, revealed a curious feature. There, a little over 6% of the sample voters had said that they have voted for the government-backed candidate Jovenel Moise, and that estimate placed him fourth on the list. Surprisingly, when the result was out, he came to the top with total 511,992 votes or 32.8 % of the votes while Jude Celestin got only 394,390 or 25.2% votes. It is a fact that exit polls are never an exact indicator, but still it is an uneven battle which Jude Celestin cannot win alone.

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Social Media a Weapon against Celestin Defeat

Jude Celestin, in a run-off with Jovenel Moise, risks losing the presidency because of voter fraud, occurring on Election Day. In 2010 Celestin ran under INITE banner. He placed second in the first round, and Martelly third.

To sabotage Celestin, PHTK burned down INITE's headquarters, coercing INITE to abandon Celestin. Third-ranked Martelly overtook Mirlande Manigat to claim victory.

This year Celestin backers are using social media to avoid a repeat of 2010's disappointment.

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