Haiti: the elections of October 25th "plagued with irregularities"
The Independent Electoral Commission determined, in its report published last Sunday, that the general and presidential election which took place in Haiti on October 25th were "plagued with irregularities," as denounces by the opposition since the vote.
During the first round of the presidential elections of October 25th, the candidate backed by the administration, Jovenel Moïse collected 32.76 % of the votes, compared to 25.29 % for Jude Célestin.
Since the announcement of these results at the end of November by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), the Haitian opposition denounced massive frauds to benefit Jovenel Moïse. His opponent Jude Célestin refused to campaign before the creation of an independent commission to investigate these charges.
In response to these demands, President Michel Martelly released a decree on December 22nd announcing the implementation of an "Independent Commission for Electoral Evaluation."
In its report, submitted officially to the president last Saturday night, the commission lays the blame primarily on the CEP, whose mediocre work is first cause for the election irregularities.
During an interview with the members of the commission, the CEP recognized the weakness of its preparation, "The electoral institution admits that more than 60 % of the members of polling stations were incapable of correctly carrying out the required work,” indicated the report. In addition, the commission found many poorly written CEP reports, with deletions, mistakes, and calculation errors.
Voter signatures or fingerprints were missing from 57 % of reports analyzed by the commission, and out of 47 % of the verified documents, the numbers of the voters identification cards were incorrect. These identification cards are the document every citizen necessarily must present in order to be able to vote. For the commission, these irregularities are signs of potential stuffing of ballot boxes, read the 14-page report.
Haiti vote was marred by fraud: probe
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haiti's first round of presidential and legislative voting was marred by fraud, as opposition forces have charged, an independent panel said in its report released Sunday.
In the October 25 first round to choose a successor to President Michel Martelly, the candidate he backed -- Jovenel Moise -- drew 32.8 percent of the vote against 25.3 percent for Jude Celestin.
A runoff had been due to go ahead on December 27 but was canceled after fraud allegations.
The first round and the subsequent lengthy and delayed vote count was marked by street protests alleging official corruption.
Celestin refused to campaign until an independent electoral commission was set up.
The commission said in its report that work by the government's Electoral Board was sloppy, and led to many irregularities.
When the independent commission spoke with members of the (CEP) board, they said that 60 percent of polling station staffers were unable to do their work properly, the report said.
"There were also votes crossed out, as well as math or tallying problems," it added. Additional woes were found in voter ID inspection.
That likely meant "votes were not cast by some voters even though they were eligible to do so," the report stressed.
The October presidential election was the latest attempt in the Americas' poorest country to shed chronic political instability and work toward development.
Haiti is still struggling to recover from a devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and crippled the nation's infrastructure.
After being mired for years in a political crisis that kept any elections from being held, Haiti has been on an electoral marathon this year, holding presidential, legislative and now finally these municipal elections.
Since the end of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, Haiti has been jolted by coups and contested elections that have further undermined the fragile economy.
Haitian President says postponed runoff elections are slated for January 17
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - JAN. 1, 2016, 6:15 P.M. E.S.T.PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian President Michel Martelly has announced that a postponed presidential runoff vote will be held on Jan. 17.
Martelly says he received two letters from Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council warning that to fulfill the constitutional mandate of inaugurating a new president on Feb. 7, the runoff should be held by Jan. 17 at the latest.
On Friday, Martelly called on Haitians "to vote en masse, like they should, for the person who best represents them."
The council earlier postponed the Dec. 27 presidential runoff to allow a five-member commission to address allegations of multiple voting and ballot tampering.
The opposition is demanding an independent review of the late October first round of voting which it insists was rigged in favor of government-backed candidate Jovenel Moise. Jude Celestin came in second.
Haiti probe finds problems, but says election can go ahead
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A commission probing Haiti's disputed presidential election reported Sunday that a first-round vote was plagued by irregularities, but indicated a final run-off can take place as scheduled in two weeks.
The report says the Oct. 25 contest between 54 candidates was "stained by irregularities," in which poll watchers intervened to help several candidates, whom it doesn't name. It recommends possible legal action against poll workers and others involved.
It also urges measures to improve the transparency of the election, saying the dispute over the October vote shows "clearly that the electoral institution no longer enjoys the credibility that permits it to continue with the process without the danger of sinking the country into a still-more-serious crisis."
But it did not indicate that the problems were serious enough to affect the outcome of the October vote or force further delay of the planned Jan. 17 run-off.
Opposition parties dispute official results showing pro-government candidate Moise Jovenel topping the October vote. He's due to confront second-place finisher Jude Celestin, who also has challenged the official count.
Because of the dispute, which led to boisterous street protests, Haiti's electoral council postponed the runoff, which was initially set for December, and the government named the commission to look at the process and recommend changes.
Brazil Grants Permanent Residence to 43,781 Haitians
According to Dreamim tv,
The Brazilian government announced last Wednesday the extension of legal permanent residence to 43,781 Haitian immigrants who have entered the South American nation over the past five years.
The “joint act of recognition, authorization and concession of permanence” was signed in Brasilia by the ministers of justice, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, and labor, Miguel Rossetto.
Under the plan, the undocumented Haitians who slipped into the Brazilian state of Acre from Peru and Bolivia will be able to remain in the country and seek employment.
“This act establishes a period of up to a year for them to request a foreign resident identification document. Those Haitians are formally accepted by Brazil with stability and security,” Rossetto said.
Cardozo said the Haitians are receiving the same treatment given to foreign nationals who have Brazilian spouses or children. The authorization offers the Haitians “a prospect of definitive permanence so they can reside and enjoy all the rights of a foreigner in Brazil,” the justice minister said. Those rights include eligibility for government assistance, he said.
The Haitians in Acre, who were brought to Brazil by smugglers, initially applied for refugee status, but as that process dragged on, authorities began to provide them with provisional visas that allowed the migrants to travel to other parts of the country in search of employment.
While none of the Haitians has received refugee status, the number of people accepted by Brazil as refugees has doubled in the past four years, from 4,218 in 2012 to 8,400 over the first seven months of 2015.
The earth trembled in the North / Northeast of Haiti
Last Saturday, a moderate earthquake of 4.5 magnitude 4.5 on the Ritcher scale shook the island of Hispaniola. Its epicenter was situated in Montecristi, 5 km northwest of Villa Vasquez in the Dominican Republic. It was felt at 10:25 am in the North / Northeast of Haiti, in particular in Ouanamithe, Fort-freedom, Cap-Haïtien (77km of the epicenter), and in Dajabón, Montecristi, Villa Vasquez, Santiago Rodriguez, Valverde (Mao) and other cities in the Northern Region of the Dominican Republic.
In Ouanaminthe, the shock caused a great deal of confusion and a wave of panic, as frightened residents ran away from their houses, still remembering the terrible earthquake of January 12th, 2010, which destroyed parts of Port-au-Prince and the other cities in Haiti.
It should be noted that earthquakes of 4.5 on the Ritcher Scale occur on average 6,000 times a year in the world. They causes visible damage to objects inside houses. Windows, doors and plates all tremble, and the vibrations are felt by people. However the damage they cause remains usually very light.
The Haitian Ministry of Defense, reminded that Haiti is a country at seismic risk, located between two big tectonic plates. He underlined that from time to time, small shockwaves can occur and that in spite of its advances, science is not still capable of determining exactly the date of an earthquake. He emphasized that only preventive measures, can be effective during such circumstances.
A Chilean blue beret hurt by gunshot in Port-au-Prince
On New Year’s Day, Chilean Captain Sanidad Max Wanner Espinoza, the doctor of "Grupo de Helicópteros de la Fuerza Aérea" of Chile, component of the Mission of stabilization of United Nations in Haiti (Minustah) was shot by an unknown shooter, confirmed the Chilean Ministry of Defense.
"The incident arose on Friday shortly after midnight in Port-au-Prince. Sanidad Max Wanner Espinoza, was hurt by a bullet in the back, which was fired from outside the base,” said they Ministry. Captain Wanner was transferred to the Argentine hospital for initial care in order to stabilize him, before being transferred by helicopter to a hospital to Santo-Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where he underwent an operation to extract the bullet, according to the Chilean authorities.
This incident occurred two days after the body of two policewomen who were members of the component UNPol of the UN Mission, were found dead at their homes in Cap-Haïtien, on the morning of December 30th, 2015. Minustah which opened an inquiry, has not communicated on the exact circumstances of their deaths yet.