Photos

Here is candidate Eric Jean-Baptiste voting on October 25.

In a carnival like atmosphere, second round of election has been concluded on October 25, 2015, with a higher turnout without any major incidence. The final result of the Sunday election is expected to be published by the end of November. According to the election observers, the voting process was more all less peaceful except few small incidences. Prime Minister Evans Paul has said, with this transparent election, we have improved the image of our country; we have shown that we are capable to elect our representatives democratically. So far, two contenders have come out as the front runners in the race of 54 candidates: Jude Célestin, a Mechanical Engineer from Switzerland running under LAPEH banner against whom the PHTK party, of which President Martelly is the President, had applied number of unfair means to defeat, and Dr.

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Here is Michel Martelly Voting on October 25, 2015.

The voting rooms were like hospitals in Haiti, where sick people have no privacy as too many people enter the room without any restriction. As per Miami Herald reports, there were 125 observers from OAS to watch this election. The casting of votes was delayed in some of the voting centers, although in most of the centers, people formed a queue long before the scheduled starting time of 6 a.m. As per Franz Lerebours of National Police, by the midday, police had made 73 arrests throughout the country. Over 15,000 security personnel were deployed in Sunday's election: 10,000 from PNH and 5,000 from the UN peacekeeping force MINUSTAH.

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Here is a picture of candidate Jovenel Moise and wife voting.

(Mrs.) Maryse Narcisse, a physician, former Minister of Public Health and an ex-employee of USAID with backings of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Celestin was eliminated in the second round of 2010 election following a recount by the OAS observers.

On Sunday, President Martelly and presidential candidate Jude Celestin were seen to cast their votes at a voting center in Lycée Petion-ville within a gap of ten minutes. Another presidential candidate, Eric Jean Baptiste under the banner of the Mouvement Action Socialiste and owner of Père Eternel Loto, who shot himself once while cleaning his gun at home in last March, was seen to cast his vote at the voting center under cover of own armed guards.

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Here is Jean Bertrand Aristide and Maryse Narcisse on the last day of campaigning.

Dr. Narcisse is a former Minister of Public Health and a former employee of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Earlier, to this on September 30, 2015, the former President Aristide spoke before an audience of 2,000 supporters who gathered outside his house. He urged them to support his candidate Dr. Maryse Narcisse. That was the first occasion for him to speak in public since his return from exile in 2011.

October 25 is a day for the first round of presidential elections and it is also the day for the second round of its legislative and municipal elections. The Interim Electoral Council (CEP i.e., Conseil Electoral Provisoire) responsible for holding Haiti election, financed by the international community via the United Nations, has billed more than $50 million for holding the election, but most Haitians consider it as a corrupt institution.

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Jean Bertrand Aristide and Maryse Narcisse - last day of campaigning.

October 23, 2015, was the last day of campaigning for the first round of the presidential election. The former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who is still a popular and decisive figure to many, came out of his home and drove along the streets of the capital city standing alongside Dr. (Mrs.) Maryse Narcisse, the leader of the Fanmi Lavalas faction and a candidate for the Presidential election from the party 'Fanmi Lavalas' that Aristide founded decades ago in 1996. The former President and the presidential candidate Narcisse waved to thousands through the sunroof of the car till it reached a huge seaside slum, Cite Soleil, once a stronghold of Aristide.

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Here is a picture of one of the most successful Haitian-American, Dumarsais Simeus as he supports Moise Jean Charles for President.

Jean Charles Moïse is a former Senator who sees himself as the next Haitian President. He is confident of his victory in the upcoming presidential election from the Platform of the radical opposition "Petit Dessalin" and considers the election as a simple matter of formality. He has appointed Daly Valet, the star reporter of Radio Vision 2000 as his campaign manager. They two will make plans and take strategic decisions, jointly within the framework of the campaign. Moise is not alone; there are many experienced veteran observers of Haitian politics like Dumarsais Simeus who also believes him to be a winner in the presidential race. Dumarsais is one of the most successful and learned black businessmen in the U.S who once unsuccessfully enrolled himself in the presidential election in 2005. He believes Moise as the most potential candidate who has the ability to outrun other candidates in the race and lead the country for a better tomorrow.

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Here is the picture of Alvin P. Adams Jr. who passed away this week.

Alvin P. Adams Jr. (73), a key Figure during Jean-Bertrand Aristide rule and an Ambassador who helped Haiti pursue democracy, died of a heart attack on October 10, 2015, at his home in Portland, Ore. Alvin P. Adams Jr., was an American envoy to Haiti (1989 to 1992) and champion of human rights, but he would be more remembered for his contributory role during the government of Jean Bertrand Aristide and his negotiation in the 1990s with Lt. General Prosper Avril. Gen. Avril was a Haitian military ruler and a protégé of the ousted dictators Francois Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier; Avril had to leave Haiti ultimately on a United States Air Force jet like his predecessor. His departure paved the way for a provisional civilian replacement and, later that year, the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first freely elected president and a Roman Catholic priest. When a military coup overthrew Aristide from power within the same year, Alvin Adams again played a key role in negotiating his exile to Venezuela. Jean Bertrand came back to power in 1994.

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Our beloved Haiti has been nominated for the 10 Best Readers' Choice Travel Awards 2015

Each week USA Today asks their readers to help them picking 10 Best Travel Destinations based on different categories ranging from food, lodging, things to do, etc., by casting one vote in each category each week. Their panel of travel experts selects the top 20 nominees, and readers help them to make the final selection. Some examples of their travel destination categories are: Best Caribbean Destination for Adventure, Best Caribbean Destination for Food, Best Caribbean Destination for Nightlife, Best U.S. Budget Destination. Haiti with its dramatic countryside of mountain, caves, waterfall, sea beaches, and heritage sites likes of the Citadelle Laferriere fortress had ranked top at No 1 during the third week of October 2015. However, it slipped to No: 2 of 20 next week, in the Best Caribbean Destination for Adventure category.

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In a statement issued by Wilson Laleau, the Minister of Economy and Finance, in the middle of September, the minister had informed the general public and importers that the sovereign authority has decided to ban 23 Dominican products which will no longer be able to be imported by road; but they may enter by ship or air (excluding cement) and disembark only at the port of Port-au-Prince or Cap-Haitien. The primary decision behind this measure was to cover hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue lost due to smuggling; however, many critics are of opinion that the real motive was to benefit certain Haitian merchants so that they can hike commodity prices and sponsor certain electoral candidates. On October 12, in the town of Anse-à-Pitre near the border with Pedernales when the restricted items as usual arrived by their normal transport mode (motorcycle taxi), the Haitian authority applied the restricted measures and confiscated the banned goods which included many basic necessities for the Haitian population. This act fuelled anger among the locals, a spontaneous demonstration was formed which set fires on the customs building and motorcycle tyres and threw stones to the police; gun shots were reported.

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Martelly and Medina meet on road transport ban.

Haiti´s unilateral decision of import ban of 23 Dominican products since the first week of October, 2015, could choke 88.72% of US$ 467.9 million annual trade between the two countries. As per the decision, the banned items cannot cross the land border, but they can enter by boat or plane on payment of taxes to the capital of Port-au-Prince or in the northern coastal town of Cap Haitien. The Haitian government imposed the ban despite the request of the Dominican Government that Haiti should "rethink" and they even ignored European Union's warning that price of foods and other items in Haiti could go up by 40%. The Haitian merchants had threatened that they would defy the ban unless the Finance Ministry suspends the ban till October 1, because otherwise they won't be able to meet their financial commitments. On October 13, 2015, at the request of the Haitian President Michelle Martelly, the Dominican President Danilo Medina met him in a high level meeting at the airport Maria Montez, in Barahona, Dominican Republic. The two Presidents have discussed to resolve the crisis arising out of the transport ban and have decided to form a committee within a fortnight to determine ways to solve the crisis.

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