ARTICLE - ELECTION RESULTS MAY STAND

HAITI ELECTION RESULTS MAY STAND
(Caribbean360) -

A statement issued by the Haiti's electoral officials suggests that the recommendations made by an Organization of American States expert mission could go unheeded.

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Haiti's electoral body has indicated that it will not simply be accepting the Organization of American States (OAS) recommendation that the second and third positions in the preliminary round of presidential elections be reversed. The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) says legal matters also have to be considered.

The CEP made that clear in a statement issued last night, just under a week after it received a report done by an OAS expert mission which recommended that candidate of the ruling party, Jude Celestin, be eliminated from a run-off vote, and popular musician Michel ‘Sweet’ Martelly instead face off against former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

“The possibility of changing the position of the second and third candidates in the list of the primary results published on December 7, 2010 will be taken into consideration in the framework of the treatment of legal complaints," the electoral body said.

Martelly had been eliminated when preliminary results were released as Manigat was said to be in the lead, followed by Celestin. But the report of the OAS expert mission found that while Manigat had 31.6 percent of the vote, Martelly actually had 22.2 percent and Celestin trailed with 21.9 percent.

The CEP said the "technical considerations" contained in the OAS report would be taken into account when holding the second round of voting.

However, it provided no other details.

Sources have indicated that President René Préval has concerns about the OAS report but he has not spoken publicly about his issues.