Election - Haiti Observer Blog

It appears that the recent attacks and accusations that have been mounting against Haiti Provisional Electoral Council(CEP) are having some effects. One of its members, Néhémy Joseph, realized that this is no longer an environment for him to work as he handed his resignation letter to President Michel Martelly.

A copy of the resignation letter is included. In his three page letter addressed to the President, Mr. Néhémy Joseph referred to the ongoing criticisms against the CEP stating that the country needs inclusive and impartial election

Questions:
With the resignation of Néhémy Joseph from the CEP, do you see any hope for the election process to continue its course?

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On August 9, 2015, the selection of former journalist Clarens Renois by the High Level Commission (on September 2) as the sole candidate for the Protestant sector in Haiti to run for the presidency was questioned by a group of pastors, church and mission leaders on the ground of his contribution and Christian commitment towards the Protestant community.

The dissatisfied Haitian Protestant Federation (FPH), the representative body of the Haitian community, instead, has nominated Pastor Chavannes Jeune out of nine aspiring candidates with 95% favoring supports. Pastor Chavannes Jeune will run for the presidency under the banner of CANAAN. Thus, Clarens Renois and Chavannes Jeune will represent two divisions of the Protestant sector as "single" Protestant Presidential Candidate". None of the group has urged or requested the withdrawal of the opposition presidential candidate.

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On Thursday, August 20, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has announced that the voters from 25 districts in Haiti, who could not complete their voting peacefully on August 9, will have another chance to recast their votes to elect their lawmakers. The CEP has decided to hold this first round of legislative elections along with the second round of voting on October 25, 2015.

On August 9, three voting centers in the capital city and numerous polling places in other sections of the country were closed because men armed with rocks and bottles attacked polling stations and several gangs overran a number of voting centers in Port-au-Prince and other areas, forcing election officials to halt balloting. Two people were killed in violence; the percentage of polling was reported to be less than the expectation, a meager 18%, and just three deputies of 119 were chosen as per CEP report. In the country's largest department (Ouest) where the capital is located, the overall percentage of polling was below 10%. Sixteen candidates have been disqualified for their alleged involvement in the August 9 crimes and violence. There will be a re-election in 25 polling stations out of a total 1,508 - that saw massive irregularities and low turnout. Nowhere in the country did the voter turnout exceed 50%. The CEP could not reveal the names of the successful candidates, because, the winners' names were not available on the website as it went down immediately following CEP's announcement. As per new report dated August 21, no senator was elected in the first round for deputies.

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The final results of the 1st round of legislative elections in Haiti are finally public. We finally learned that a total of 2 senators and 8 deputies have already been elected in the first round or since August 9, 2015.

Here are the candidates who have been elected in the first round:

Senators:
- Jean Renel Sénatus (West - LIDE), with 43.18%
- Youri Latortue, AAA, Artibonite Department with 46%.

Deputies:
- Cholzer Chancy, Ennery (Artibonite) - AAA
- Fritz Chery, Gros Morne (Artibonite) - AAA
- Garcia Delva, Dessalines (Artibonite) - PHTK
- A. Rodon Bien-Aimé , Cerca-Carvajal/Quartier de los Palis (Centre) - PHTK
- Gabriel Lyonel Jean, Lascahobas (Centre) - VERITE
- Rony Celestin, Cerca-la-Souce (Centre) - PHTK
- Bernard Anouce Jhon, Beaumon (Grand Anse) - PHTK
- Jackie Guerrier, Poite-à-Raquette (West) - INITE PATRIYOTIK

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On Thursday, August 30, 2015, on a "Workshop for validating the draft Law on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of the Violence Against Women" the Prime Minister Evans Paul has announced that in a measure to prevent violence against women candidates, the Superior Council of the National Police will depute a police officer for the protection of each woman candidate in the coming legislative election.

The Prime Minister took this opportunity to welcome the partnership of different ministries and international partners involved in the development of this draft law. As of May 29th, females comprise approximately 8% of all candidates in the legislative elections-- only 151 women of the total 1800 candidates. It shows a gap between Haitian political policies and practice because the Haitian constitution requires political parties to meet a 30% quota for female candidates.

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Fourteen candidates, who ran in the Haiti's first-round legislative elections on August 9, have been disqualified by the state election officials following violent disturbances at voting stations across the country. Two people were killed amid violence; the percentage of polling was reported to be less than the expectation.

Three polling stations in the capital city were vandalized and 26 were shut down early after fights broke out. During this election, nearly six million eligible voters would choose 119 deputies and 20 senators from more than 1,800 candidates registered from 128 registered political parties. It is still unknown whether the disqualified candidates have won, because the winners have not yet been announced. The polling stations across the country were supposed to remain open between 6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time, but voters were frustrated at many stations because they opened late or were suspend to voting. They grew further exasperated when many of them could not find their names on the voter list. As a result, voting was extended for two hours at some polling stations. At the end of the day, Pierre-Louis Opont, the head of the country's Provisional Electoral Council, has said that 5 polling stations, about 5% of the total, were closed due to violence and other disruptions and one council staffer (Lucien Joseph Hébert) has vanished with election material!

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The two agencies, such as the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and its partner United Nations Development Program (UNDP), both engaged in ensuring a fair election process in Haiti have put much emphasis on the active participation of country's youth force in the electoral process. During the first week of August, in a measure to transform the youths to active citizens, a series of training process was undertaken for a first group of 140 individuals. They were taught about the democracy and the importance of a fair and peaceful election, corruptions and electoral laws, how to cast a vote, are only some to name. These youths will again train their peers so that they can take an active part in the electoral process.

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Clarens Renois, Powerful Force in Haiti Civic and Government Life. Haitian journalist, Clarens Renois, is a high profile participator in Haiti's government and civic society sectors. He took his degree at Faculte des Sciences Humaines at the University of Haiti in Communications. From there he pursued further journalism studies in the U.S. and Europe.

Renois came to prominence as a journalist after the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier's repressive regime in 1986. He had already risen to the job of News Editor at Radio Metropole (RM) two years prior. During his time at RM he taught courses in journalism at various schools as well as seminars around the island.

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Manigat Declares Parliamentary Elections not True Will of People

National Rally of Progressive Democrats' (RDNP) Secretary General, Mirlande Manigat, issued a public statement, lambasting Martelly's government and its Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) for shameful behavior in conducting the 2015 Parliamentary elections. She wanted Haiti to understand PEC had few ethical members, who were performing their duties properly preparing for elections.

Mirlande cited ". . . incompetence . . . lack of professionalism and . . . a lightness . . . (in) dealing (with) . . . candidate files . . ." She was incensed subterfuge used by PEC at the polls was not reflective of the voting public's preferences . She summed up Election Day as ". . . an anti-democratic disaster!"

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Provisional Electoral Council Disqualifies 14 Candidates for Insurrection at the Polls.

On voting day earlier this August orderliness did not prevail at some polling places in Haiti. Voters had come to cast ballots for both senate and deputy seats, but some 14 candidates running for parliamentary seats caused disruption, even violence at random polling sites. As a result of their actions the Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) disqualified them.

One of the disqualified senate candidates, Arnel Belizaire, was said to have used a firearm, shooting it in the air at a polling station. He was once a former Chamber of Deputies member, whose outrageous antics included bedding down in a room at the parliament building with a gun to protest an opposition action he did not agree with. The media tried to reach him for comment on the firearm incident, but he made himself unavailable. Instead he gave an interview at a local radio station, saying he was innocent of the allegations, and ". . . was not out in public on Election day." Other disqualified candidates were blamed for destroying voting booths, or preventing ballot casting or tallying.

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