ARTICLE - IT IS UP TO THE CEP - ELECTIONS REPORT

"IT IS UP TO THE CEP TO EVALUATE THE CONCLUSIONS OF EXPERTS" SAYS BELLERIVE
(HaitiLibre) -

The report of the Joint OAS-CARICOM Electoral Observation Mission (JEOM) was handed yesterday to the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), information confirmed by the spokesperson of the institution, Richardson Dumesle.

The report recommends a return to the preliminary results in each of the eighteen cases examined, in a statement issued yesterday the JEOM explains that "As a first step, the Mission started its work at the CEP, where the clerks of the electoral tribunals had been made available for the JEOM. The Mission examined the BCEN decisions and all documents filed by lawyers of the plaintiffs and defendants, which enabled the Mission to compare the information contained in the records to the reasons given for the decisions. Subsequently, the JEOM went to the Vote Tabulation Centre (CTV) to undertake a verification of the results sheets (PVs) that had been validated or annulled by the decisions of the BCEN. These decisions had led to changes in the position of the candidates. The JEOM examined whether the annulment or the validation of the PVs identified by the plaintiffs or the defendants had been done in accordance with rules established by the CEP. The Mission also verified the validity of the electoral lists (LEP) contained in the sachets of the presidential PVs. It is important to note that the 18 established criteria to determine the validity of the PVs are in compliance with the Electoral Law and are included in the Manual of the CTV authorized by the CEP."

The statement also stresses "that in none of the cases analyzed did the judges of the BCEN take advantage of their ability to undertake verifications at the CTV, nor did they set up commissions to do so under Article 190 of the Electoral Law. This profoundly affected the correctness and the validity of the decisions of the BCEN to either annul or validate PVs as requested by the plaintiffs and the defendants. It is also worth noting that parties that questioned set aside or counted PVs did not always provide solid or relevant evidence to substantiate their claims. Neither did the plaintiffs demonstrate that the exclusion of PVs in their disfavor was unjustified under the criteria established and published by the CEP."

The Prime Minister, Jean Max Bellerive, reacting to the report stated "that it is up to the Council [CEP] to evaluate the conclusions of experts before giving the final results of the elections" regarding some possible embezzlement, he said "we must not enter into speculations [...] the mission did not give me clear elements or evidence that are needed to initiate a prosecution... There are many rumors, many accusations, but I have not proof of embezzlement."

While the electoral advisor Laurette Croyance has declared in a press note yesterday that she was never informed of any bribe received by the CEP from a candidate.

Regarding the report of the JEOM the advisor declares "It is difficult to come back on the decisions of justice who have given birth to the final results"

For the deputy Levaillant Louis Jeune (INITE) BCEN decisions are irrevocable "...I regret it for them, these are irrevocable decisions rendered by a Supreme Court in electoral matters, a court named BCEN, no country, no foreign powers or regional organizations can replace the BCEN..."