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New York Times

New York Times has spoken on Haiti Election

New York Times has spoken on Haiti Election

Finally a major American Newspaper has called for legitimate election in Haiti, following the October 2015 election in Haiti. New York Times has spoken on Haiti Election, calling it a failure and that Haitians deserve better.

The New York Times (NYT), the New York City based U.S newspaper is 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'. The sentiments of the 53 of the 54 contesting candidates together with the reactions of the independent election observers, human-rights groups, ordinary citizens, Haitian diaspora organizations and the religious leaders were demonstrated through the continued angry, often violent protests on the Haitian streets. As per the report, the second place winner Jude Celestin has said, the October election and its consequential results were "ridiculous farce". The country is again scheduled to go for a final runoff election on December 27th, 2015.

A credible election, as per internationally agreed normative base is an election, which would give every citizen an equal opportunity to vote, compete and be elected , without any discrimination with the participation of all qualified political parties. It must reflect the will of the people. The entire process should be transparent and each step should be open to security and trusted by the citizens. The principle of transparency is linked to the fundamental right of citizens.

As per the NYT news report, the Provisional Electoral Council, issued 900,000 accreditation cards to the representatives of political parties to oversee and ensure transparency in the electoral process, but in reality, those cards gave access to enter the polling centers and cast false votes.

On December 17, 2015, a signed petition of over 100,000 protesters has been posted on the website of the White House requesting President Obama to stop supporting Martelly and issue a statement in support of the petitioners demanding the formation of an inquiry committee to inquire about the alleged frauds affecting the integrity of the October 25, 2015 election.

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