Haiti postpones upcoming presidential election

In recent days, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti’s electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud.

During an interview with The Associated Press, Martelly said he believed that disputed results from the October presidential round that put the government-backed contender on top for a two-candidate runoff was a genuine reflection of voters’ will.

Global observers, led by the Organization of American States (OAS), which monitors elections across Latin America, acknowledged some voting irregularities, but had initially sanctioned the first round of voting.

The first round of the election took place on October 26, with Jovenel Moise from Haitian Tet Kale Party and Jude Celestin from Alternative League for Haitian Progress and Empowerment gaining almost 33 and 25 percent of votes, respectively.

Growing allegations of electoral fraud have brought sometimes violent street protests and so many accusations from civil society, religious and opposition groups that Haiti’s December 27 runoffs were postponed Monday.

The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti has been battered by political instability, coups, and electoral fraud over the decades.

Haiti’s presidential run-off election has been postponed until January amid accusations of irregularities, electoral officials have said.

He noted that after polls closed, global electoral missions and local groups hailed it as an apparent success.

Martelly asserted that the opposition was so troubled by Moise’s status as the leading candidate that leading figures started denouncing the elections as a mockery of democracy. Celestin has dismissed the final results as a “ridiculous farce” and alleged that the CEP was complicit in vote-rigging in favor of Moise.

However, the commission has not yet begun its work amid claims from the opposition that it has been stacked with ruling party loyalists and would be no more than a “cosmetic solution”.