No Elections, No Legislators, Protests On The Streets, Haiti Heading To A Crisis

As the three-year-long political crisis continues, a few thousands of Haitian protesters allied with Haiti's opposition parties, broke out with voter cards demanding a chance to vote and marched in the streets Port-au-Prince on Sunday, October 26--the day when the overdue election was scheduled. They were angry over the government's postponement of the election, citing a "constant concern to guarantee political stability." The continued delay was the result of a failure to resolve an impasse in the National Assembly over the national electoral law as the oppositions were of opinion that the proposed electoral commission would not operate independently. In June, President Michel Martelly decreed that the elections will be held on 26 October. The midterm senate elections in Haiti had been due in May 2012, while the municipal election is three years behind its schedule. Protesters lit piles of rum-soaked wood in the central neighborhood of Bel Aire, navigated traffic before a heavy police, clad in riot gear, with the presence of the UN peacekeeping security force. The police fired tear gas at protesters; no one had major injuries, two of the protestors were arrested. Protesters were demanding Martelly's resignation for his inability to organize elections in the country. The absence of the election will deepen the crisis in the Assembly as the term of the remaining two third members expire in next January. Such vacuum may result in a President ruling by decree, starting next January.

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