Caribbean360: No challenge to Haiti's president elect

No challenge to Haiti's president elect
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Chris Hoyos on 08/04/2011 10:14:00
 
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Friday April 8, 2011 – The way appears clear for the
winner in the second round of presidential elections, singer Michel ‘Sweet
Micky’ Martelly to take up his position after rival Mirlande Manigat announced
yesterday that she has no intention to mount a legal challenge.
The former first lady issued a statement saying that she would not bother
because she has no faith in the process.
Her party, the RDNP, had alleged that the count had been manipulated by the
inclusion of results sheets that should have been excluded – a claim that the
Organisation of American States (OAS)/Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Joint
Electoral Observer Mission said it investigated and found no evidence to
support.
Although that will not be part of any legal challenge, Manigat made it clear in
her statement that she was dissatisfied with how the elections were conducted.
According to the Miami Herald, her lawyers have also accused Martelly of
breaking elections law on the day the first round results were announced when
he, another presidential candidate and hip-hop star Wyclef Jean, took to the
streets in Carnival-like fashion to protest the election.
Martelly secured secure 67.6 percent of the vote to beat Manigat in the runoff
vote, after not even making into that second round initially.
Manigat and Jude Célestin - who was handpicked by President René Préval –
had been announced as the front-runners, with Martelly in third position.
However, after violent protests in the country as Martelly’s supporters, in
particular, accused the ruling party of engaging in fraud to ensure a win for
Célestin, a review of the results was conducted by an expert team from the OAS
which recommended that Célestin be dropped from the runoff and replaced by
Martelly.
The final announcement of who the new president will be is expected to be made
by Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Commission on April 16.
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