U.S. Sends Kenneth Merten to Handle Haiti's Election Crisis

State Department Special Coordinator for Haiti, Kenneth Merten. Haiti's recent parliamentary elections were beset with random episodes of violence at the polls. There was vandalism, looting, and gunfire at some polling stations. Many political parties have criticized the Provisional Electoral Council (PEC), in particular, for being behind the disturbances with the motive of trying to keep citizens from voting, or to getting them to vote for certain candidates by offering bribes to them.

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The Obama government sent State Department Special Coordinator to Haiti, Kenneth Merten, to consult with various political players. The U.S. wants Merten to stress to electoral participants elections must be fair and inclusive, and follow the PEC's calendar. Because of weak voter turnout, 18% by PEC's reckoning and 4-5% by electoral observers, political parties are demanding cancellation of the first round of parliamentary elections. They are also asking for PEC President, Pierre Louis Opont, to be ousted and a provisional government take charge of elections.

The corrupt Opont is trying to wriggle free from accusations PEC allowed irregularities to influence the 2010 elections towards electing Martelly as president. He puts the blame on former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills, who ordered Opont to modify the election results. Not likely.

Inserting Clinton into the debacle is Opont's method of deflecting attention away from the PEC's corrupt activities to manipulate the electoral process to thwart opposition candidates from earning their just due in election results, results not released in over six weeks.

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