Voices of Haiti: In Pursuit of the Undemocratic

Down with Selection, Long Live Election: A sign at a Dec. 5 protest in Port-au-Prince. Photo by Bri Kouri Nowel GayeDown with Selection, Long Live Election: A sign at a Dec. 5 protest in Port-au-Prince. Photo by Bri Kouri Nowel Gaye“Have you chosen me a good government, Blan?”-sarcastic question posed by a Haitian voter to a foreign election monitor at a polling station in Port-Au-Prince. While $26 million was spent on Haiti’s November 28 elections, a great deal more is at stake for international business. Over $9 billion in reconstruction contracts will be up for grabs, and the government selected could possibly have influence on the foreign dominated Haiti Interim Reconstruction Committee (HIRC), which is tasked with determining the path of Haiti’s development.

Editorial: CEP must open books, revisit election results

BHR 12-10 front pageBHR 12-10 front pageOn Tuesday night, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced the preliminary results from the November 28 elections in Haiti. President Rene Preval’s party Inite (Unity) won the majority of seats in parliament. Of the presidential candidates, former first lady Mirlande Manigat placed first – with 31.37% of the vote while Jude Celestin, the Inite party candidate came in second with 22.48%. So, we are set for a runoff between Manigat and Celestin scheduled for January 16th. But wait, not so fast. Famed musician Michel Martelly received 21.84% of the vote – a very close third, roughly 6000 votes behind. Martelly is appealing the results and many of his supporters have taken to the streets to protest what they’ve dubbed “The Selection”. Reports of massive demonstrations, fraught by opportunistic violence, are pouring in. Some people are passionately protesting for their right to fair elections – while others are reportedly burning the headquarters of the Inite party and even the homes of rural politicians. The chaos many predicted and feared would come of an ill-run and possible fraudulent election seems to be coming to pass in the hours after the CEP announcement.

Sen. Kerry: Disputed election could "destabilize" Haiti

Sen. John KerrySen. John KerrySen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, issued the following statement to the Boston Haitian Reporter on Thursday regarding the ongoing crisis surrounding Haiti's disputed presidential election: "I urge the government of Haiti and the provisional electoral council (CEP) to address allegations and complaints about voting irregularities, some of which have already been verified. Failure to resolve these disputes before the runoff election scheduled for January 16 runs the risk of undermining legitimacy and confidence in the entire electoral process. It could also lead to more violence, which will only further destabilize and weaken a country that is already suffering in so many ways.” Haiti's electoral council said Thursday that it will recount the ballots in the country's disputed presidential election, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. Embassy has said the preliminary results appeared to conflict with observers who monitored the initial count.

Flawed elections lead to political upheaval

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Haitians entered election day hoping for the best. Within hours, ballot boxes were ripped to pieces, protesters were on the streets and nearly every presidential hopeful was united against the government. Add it to Haiti's list: Already reeling from a catastrophic earthquake, one of the world's poorest economies, storms, a deadly cholera epidemic and unrest over U.N. peacekeepers, the Caribbean nation could now be on the edge of full-on political turmoil. The chaos in Sunday's voting united most of the top presidential candidates against the president's heir apparent - Jude Celestin, head of the state-run construction company and beneficiary of a well-financed campaign.

Election in Haiti beset by cholera, confusion

Election 2010: A Haitian voter defends her right to vote to MINUSTAH. Photo by Mark SnyderElection 2010: A Haitian voter defends her right to vote to MINUSTAH. Photo by Mark Snyder PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ The ballot is as crowded as the earthquake-ravaged capital itself, and a collapsed presidential palace is the prize. The voter rolls are filled with the dead, and living citizens are still struggling to figure out if and where they can vote while worrying about political violence and a spreading cholera epidemic. It's Election Sunday in post-quake Haiti. Some polls began opening in major cities nearly 50 minutes after the 6 a.m. scheduled time. Only 20 people were waiting when a central voting station opened in Cap-Haitien, a slow start in a largely rural country where people tend to be early risers.

Thousands of Immigrants on track to lose health care

Nearly 23,000 Massachusetts residents – legal immigrants who have been in the country for fewer than five years – are scheduled to lose their health insurance before the New Year, and lawmakers are keeping silent about whether they’ll intervene. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has declined repeated requests for comment on the matter, and Sen. Richard Moore, co-chair of the Health Care Financing Committee, also declined comment Tuesday.

US officials discuss latest response to Cholera outbreak

The White House today issued a transcript of an on-the-record briefing held by officials at the US State Department to offer the latest information about the ongoing cholera epidemic in Haiti that has — so far— killed more than 1,100 people. A CDC official— Dr. Manoj Menon— said that, "We will likely never know where this came from." The strain of the disease is considered quite virulent and given Haiti's post-earthquake conditions, cholera will likely be a sustained threat for years to come, the officials said.

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