rene preval - Haiti Observer Blog

President Rene Preval is urging for continuity in Haiti and admitted that replacing him with a transitional government would not be good for Haiti. According to Preval: "My goal as president has been that when I leave, I am replaced by an elected president and an elected parliament is in place."

In the November election in Haiti, several candidates accused the government and CEP of committing massive fraud and called for its annulations. Preliminary results published recently gave the lead to Mirlande Manigat with 31 percent of the votes and with Jude Celestin coming second with 22 percent. This results caused mass demonstration in the streets as they were rejected by candidate Michel Martell and the population. The country was paralyzed for several days and several properties were destroyed by supporters of Michel Martelly.

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Rene Preval served for two terms as the president of Haiti in the period 1996 to 2001 and another one from 1006 to 2011. He is remembered for having helped the Haitians to remove President Jean Claude from power. He was by then the leader for the movement which helped in overthrowing Jean Claude. This helped him to get recognition allover Haiti in 1970s.

He is one of the leaders who rose into power with a lot of support from the poor people. He got a lot of support from Haitians due to his leadership role in the LESPWA party. Rene Preval studied in Belgium and graduated with a degree in Agronomy. He is one of the officials of Bertrand Aristide before he was overthrown in 1991. He replaced Aristide after he was overthrown in 1991. He was earlier the Prime Minister of Haiti under Aristide for sometime before the coup of 1991.

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The Haiti Election results that put Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin in the lead to participate in the runoff election set protestation incidents all over Haiti. In Port-au-Prince, protesters set fire to the headquarter or the UNITE party, the political party of President Rene Preval and under which Jude Celestin is currently candidate.

It was reported that thousands of protesters rampaged divers neighborhoods in the capital. They set fire to the headquarter of the Unite party. We were able to see flames and smokes coming out of the facility before fire trucks arrived at the location and control the fire.

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Following the chaos triggered by the results of the 2010 Haiti Election results, Rene Preval appealed for calm. As thousands of supporters of Michel Martelly took to the streets protesting the election results in which their candidate was not qualified to participate in the runoff election, the president admitted allegation of frauds in the election.

Rene Preval stated that: "If there are problems we can sit down and personally discuss it"." We are asking everyone, please stop burning tires on the roads, stop destroying government buildings, stop attacking people's businesses. We are asking every one to obey the law."" Investors would not want to come if things stay like that."

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The election result announced late on December 7 showed former first lady Mirlande Manigat and Rene Preval's hand picked man Jude Celestin as the two candidates that will be participating in the runoff election.

Here is another video where Rene Preval National Address The Nation Following The Result Of Haiti Election 2010:
(video not available)

Michel Martelly has 21.84 percent and Jude Celestin, 22.48 percent, a difference of less than one percent. Supporters of Michel Martelly, wrecking properties, setting barricades with stones, burning tires, or using any means available to disrupt activities. In Les Cayes, It was reported that several government buildings were burned down.

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Wikileaks reveals how the American Embassy views Rene Preval. A memo from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti reveals that President Preva is cynical, suspicious of the intention of outsiders and is convinced that no one understands Haiti like he does.

Key points from the correspondence from the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Rene Preval is considered as an ally; however his personality remains a problem. According to a diplomatic correspondence of March 2007, Wikileaks reported that "Managing Preval will remain challenging during the remaining of his term. We must continue to find creative ways to work with him, influence him, and encourage him to recapture the activism of his first year in office".

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The 2010 Haiti election day was marked by mass irregularities, chaos, confusion, riot, and demand for annulment of the election. Most of the candidates were united against the candidate of the UNITE, Jude Celestin, whom they accused for creating al types of irregularities in order to still the election. The blame went directly to the actual president Rene Preval, for wanting to keep his political party in power.

The chaos started well before the polling places were open. Long lines of people waiting for polling places to be open. In some cases they did not open until 9 or 10 am in the morning.

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U.S. first lady, Michelle Obama, made an unannounced visit to Haiti. The visit of the U.S. First Lady was meant to underscore to the Haitian people and the Haitian government the enduring U.S. commitment to help Haiti recover and rebuild, especially as we enter the rainy and hurricane seasons.

Shortly after arriving, Michelle Obama took a helicopter tour of Port-au-Prince, where buildings are in ruins and many earthquake survivors live in sprawling tent cities.

Michelle Obama, with President Rene Preval of Haiti, and his wife, Elisabeth Debrosse, at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince.

Accompanied by Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, Mrs. Obama entered a play area set aside to provide therapy to children now living in a giant squatter camp in Port au Prince.

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