THE DESIGNATION OF 3 MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE NEW CEP PROMISES TO BE DIFFICULT
(Haiti Libre) -
Levaillant Louis-Jeune, the President of the Lower House, who promotes a consensus, eagerly awaits the installation of the Superior Council of Judicial Power (CSPJ) and the signal of the Executive, to begin the process for the designation of 2 of 3 members of Parliament, to sit on the new Permanent Electoral Council (CEP). For his part, Senator Jean William Jeanty declared that there is no legal or juridicial response to the designation by the Senate of the third member of the CEP, and that he already provides a strong opposition in the Senate to this process.
Concerning the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies, Levaillant Louis-Jeune declared "[...] We expect the signal of the Executive, so that in the best time the CSPJ be installed, because it is the CSPJ who must make the choice of 3 persons to represent the judiciary in the new CEP. Then the Parliament must designate 3 representatives, and the Executive, also 3 [under Article 192 of the Constitution]
Therefore, we expect the signal of the Executive by the installation of the CSPJ and that it make arrangements to invite other powers to designate their 3 representatives each, to compose the Permanent Electoral Council, which will allow us to address the issue of elections, to be held before the end of the year [...] if we want to say that we are democrats, there is a way to make democracy; we proceed by consensus [...] if we put our egos and our personal interests aside, we have a consensus.
In the agreement that was found between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, it was agreed that the Senate will designate a person [by a majority vote of two thirds of the senators] and the Chamber of Deputies, will designate two people [by a majority vote of two thirds of members]
There is a difficulty in the Senate, that senators have not created themselves, because elections were not made on time. There are 20 senators who, as 'grand moun', (adults), will have to find a consensus to designate someone who will integrate the Permanent Council.
The advice that I want to send is to reach an agreement in the country on the profile of those who will integrate the CEP; I am all for that. In the Chamber of Deputies, I'll make arrangements, with all of my colleagues, so that we can find people in civil society who have profiles that can ensure transparency and credible elections. We must get away from the scheme where everyone tries to put one of his own [...] it is necessary to put credit to this institution [....] This is why I invite other powers, the Executive and the Judiciary, so they make the choice of credible people, which inspires confidence in the society, so that the first Permanent Electoral Council is not decried..."
Contrary to a certain openness of the President of the Lower House in this process of appointing members of the Permanent Electoral Council, Senator Jean William Jeanty is much less constructive, saying "[...] Elections can not be made with the amended Constitution, because it requires that there are two thirds of each House to choose the members of the CEP representing Parliament, and there are already 11 to 12 senators who said they are against it... [...]
The amendments say that 3 months after the publication, the Permanent Electoral Council, is supposed to come into force [...] the solution must now be a political solution, there is no legal response or juridical to this situation. It is a political solution, a political mobilization of all forces, of all people who believe in democracy and who are against dictatorship, because somewhere, that's what it is, .... and who gave birth to authoritarian power, .... it is a power that can now install any Prime Minister, and we have no power of control over it,.... what kind of power is this? We can not say that we are making a democracy [...]"
Article 192 now reads as follow :
"The Permanent Electoral Council is composed of nine (9) members selected as follows :
1. three (3) are selected by the Executive;
2. three (3) are selected by the Supreme Council of Judicial Power;
3. three (3) are selected by the National Assembly with a majority of two thirds of each House."
Showing posts with label ARTICLE - ELECTIONS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARTICLE - ELECTIONS. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Thursday, March 31, 2011
ARTICLE - ELECTIONS - 1,518 MINUTES EXCLUDED
ELECTIONS: 1,518 MINUTES EXCLUDED, CANDIDATES CONCERNED
(HaitiLibre.com)
Widmarck Matador, the Director of the Vote Tabulation Centre (CTV), declared yesterday at a press conference at the CTV, that all the minutes of presidential elections are already legally verified and that 82.36% of the tabulation has been completed.
Following the postponement of the date of publication for the preliminary results of the second round, Wildmack Matador explained that "Following the recommendations, we had an enhancement of the verification criteria that we have applied to the tabulation center.
Because of this enhancement we were obliged to send 15.200 minutes to the lawyers [Legal Control Unit], to verify their authenticity; to check that they do not have fraud. Our system has been heavily weighed down, and we must take the time to do this job. If we do not this ...., another Mission comes and that two months, three months after... we give the results of the 2nd round. What is most important for us is the integrity of the election, and the respect of the vote of the people. We are obliged to take our time to do an honest job, to be able to give reliable results, accurate results."
The Director of the CTV determined that 1,518 minutes concerning the presidential election were excluded, noting that this decision of the Legal Control Unit is administrative and not judicial. The candidates or their duly authorized representatives may challenge the shelving of PV within 72 hours after the publication of the preliminary results and thus begin the legal process of challenge.
These 1,518 minutes represent 14% of 11,090 minutes received for the presidential election. A number that is lower than the number used by the candidates' parties in their accusations and their war of reciprocal numbers... It is necessary to remember that in the first round of the presidential elections, about 3,000 minutes had been shelved; of which 1.045 were for the candidate Jude Célestin.
The two candidates Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly will be allocated in proportions unknown to this day, of these frauds and irregularities, because we must not be blind; the fraudster partisans of both parties did not change their nature between the two rounds of elections and none of the two candidate, can without lie, declare itself free from fraud.
To prove this it is sufficient to consult the audits of the Mission of the OAS whose criteria are the same as those used today, to see that Michel Martelly had 7.150 votes deleted and Mirlande Manigat 13.830 deleted for fraud or irregularities.
It is impossible to estimate without knowing the distribution of the minutes between the two candidates, the polling stations concerned and the result of contestations after the publication of the preliminary results of the the second round, the number of votes that will be subtracted from the vote and the influence this might have on results. It is reasonable to think that the increase of the voter turnout estimated by the CNO around 30% will compensate in quantity these votes. What will make the difference are the regions concerned by these minutes excluded combined with the voter turnout in these same regions.
(HaitiLibre.com)
Widmarck Matador, the Director of the Vote Tabulation Centre (CTV), declared yesterday at a press conference at the CTV, that all the minutes of presidential elections are already legally verified and that 82.36% of the tabulation has been completed.
Following the postponement of the date of publication for the preliminary results of the second round, Wildmack Matador explained that "Following the recommendations, we had an enhancement of the verification criteria that we have applied to the tabulation center.
Because of this enhancement we were obliged to send 15.200 minutes to the lawyers [Legal Control Unit], to verify their authenticity; to check that they do not have fraud. Our system has been heavily weighed down, and we must take the time to do this job. If we do not this ...., another Mission comes and that two months, three months after... we give the results of the 2nd round. What is most important for us is the integrity of the election, and the respect of the vote of the people. We are obliged to take our time to do an honest job, to be able to give reliable results, accurate results."
The Director of the CTV determined that 1,518 minutes concerning the presidential election were excluded, noting that this decision of the Legal Control Unit is administrative and not judicial. The candidates or their duly authorized representatives may challenge the shelving of PV within 72 hours after the publication of the preliminary results and thus begin the legal process of challenge.
These 1,518 minutes represent 14% of 11,090 minutes received for the presidential election. A number that is lower than the number used by the candidates' parties in their accusations and their war of reciprocal numbers... It is necessary to remember that in the first round of the presidential elections, about 3,000 minutes had been shelved; of which 1.045 were for the candidate Jude Célestin.
The two candidates Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly will be allocated in proportions unknown to this day, of these frauds and irregularities, because we must not be blind; the fraudster partisans of both parties did not change their nature between the two rounds of elections and none of the two candidate, can without lie, declare itself free from fraud.
To prove this it is sufficient to consult the audits of the Mission of the OAS whose criteria are the same as those used today, to see that Michel Martelly had 7.150 votes deleted and Mirlande Manigat 13.830 deleted for fraud or irregularities.
It is impossible to estimate without knowing the distribution of the minutes between the two candidates, the polling stations concerned and the result of contestations after the publication of the preliminary results of the the second round, the number of votes that will be subtracted from the vote and the influence this might have on results. It is reasonable to think that the increase of the voter turnout estimated by the CNO around 30% will compensate in quantity these votes. What will make the difference are the regions concerned by these minutes excluded combined with the voter turnout in these same regions.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
ARTICLE - ELECTIONS
AS ELECTIONS LOOM, HOW WILL HAITI REACT?
(Miami Herald) - By Jacqueline Charles
The public campaigning for Haitian elections opened with lots of questions and frustrations.
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Public campaigning for Haiti's upcoming elections opened Friday with a musical flair but no clear-cut favorite among the 19 presidential candidates vying to rebuild this earthquake-shattered nation.
A recent poll suggests that the contest is between President René Préval's 48-year-old protégé, Jude Célestin, and Mirlande Manigat, a 69-year-old twice-exiled grandmother and former first lady.
But with 1.5 million Haitians still displaced by the Jan. 12 quake, a crowded field of candidates and Haitians who are numbed by the daily grind of getting by, the only true sentiment at this moment seems to be that people are eager for change.
``We have no government. We only have a bunch of racketeers. A government is a group of people thinking for their country,'' said an unemployed Franky Metellus, 33, who has grown even more disappointed with the Préval government since the quake. ``Look at all of these young people in the streets. They are discouraged. They don't see the future.''
But it is too early to tell how such frustrations and disappointments will play out when Haitians vote in the Nov. 28 legislative and presidential elections. More than 900 candidates are vying for 110 parliamentary seats.
On Friday, the campaign season officially kicked off with a handful of rallies and public debates across the country. Thousands of people took to the streets to listen to music and rara bands with drums and shakers just outside the capital at a rally for konpa music star Michel ``Sweet Micky'' Martelly.
He led a band of pink and white-clad supporters on foot through the muddy streets of the capital, from the downtown Champs des Mars tent city to the Fontamara community, just south of Martissant.
Still, what should be a defining moment in a nation struggling to rebuild, may prove to be a time of apathy as Haitians -- traumatized by disaster fatigue, promises undelivered and governance unrealized -- simply stay home.
With little to distinguish candidates as far as programs go, many voters like Leo Pierre, 43, remain unenthusiastic and even cynical.
``I have voted so much and nothing has been realized. I don't know if I will vote,'' he said as he worked at a construction site in the Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood.
``People are tired with the government. They are not excited about the elections,'' said Daly Valet, publisher and editor-in-chief of Le Matin, a local newspaper. ``You get the impression it's a boxing match where the spectators are tired, the boxers are tired and there is nothing new to show.''
A recent, though controversial poll, of 6,000 prospective voters countrywide showed Manigat in the lead with 16.7 percent, dropping six percentage points from a similar survey taken weeks earlier by the same polling firm. Célestin, the former head of the government reconstruction agency, was next with 13 percent -- a 5 percentage point increase from his previous sixth position.
Martelly with 12.5 percent was also among candidates who polled in the top tier.
Yet one of the the most telling statistics was the percentage of voters who either were refusing to vote for any candidate, 14.8 percent, or who said they didn't know any of them, 7.5 percent.
The poll, which was taken Sept. 19-27, was commissioned by the business community and aimed at showing which candidates enjoyed name recognition among voters. It had a margin of error of 1.27 percent.
Observers say that the high percentage of ``undecided'' voters and the low percentages received by leading candidates speak to the lack of excitement.
``This is a low-profile election with low-profile candidates,'' Valet said.
But Steven Benoit, a one-time Préval supporter and former member of the lower chamber now running for one of 11 Senate seats believes ``people will go out to vote because they are frustrated.
``It is really obvious that this government has failed,'' he said. ``I truly believe these elections will be a negative report against INITE [Préval's UNITY political coalition], and I am expecting a large turnout.''
Still, some in the opposition continue to call for an election boycott even as their parliamentary candidates increasingly participate in the electoral process.
With the opposition fragmented and most candidates lacking financing, the candidates Préval supports enjoy a considerable advantage. And that worries people like Valet as Haiti's rubble-strewn streets become dominated by life-size green and yellow INITE billboards featuring a smiling Célestin.
``The democratic process has been kidnapped by money,'' Valet said. ``There are no rules to control the flow of money, no rules to control access to public and state-funded media.''
Concerns over the integrity of the voting process also persist. Last week, 45 members of the U.S. Congress, including South Florida Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Alcee L. Hastings, signed a letter urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ensure Haiti's elections are ``free, fair, and inclusive,'' because ``allowing flawed elections now will come back to haunt the international community later.''
The group raised concerns about access to voting cards -- there is just one machine in the entire country to print cards -- and the possible shortage of polling stations since many were destroyed in the quake.
They also criticized the exclusion of candidates from former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas political party and several others.
Fanmi Lavalas is barred because Aristide, head of the party for life, is the only one who can sign off on allowing the party to participate, election officials said, and he is in exile in South Africa.
Still, there are at least six Lavalas candidates in the presidential race, including former Aristide Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Minister of Haitians Living Abroad Leslie Voltaire, and Yves Cristallin, Fanmi Lavalas co-founder and former Préval minister of Social Affairs.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said the department will look into the congressional group's concerns.
``What's important is the Haitian people want democracy. There are a few who want disorder, but the Haitian people know where their interests lie,'' Préval told The Miami Herald recently.
Last week, hundreds of candidates attended an information session with electoral officials, who drummed in a message that they are committed to fair and transparent voting and are concerned about possible fraud and violence.
Manigat said she believes Haiti can pull off ``acceptable elections'' despite the challenges. Her husband, former President Leslie Manigat, finished a controversial second to Préval in 2006.
``Whatever intentions they did have to steal the elections, they cannot do it this year,'' she told The Miami Herald. ``It will be more complicated. The international community wants elections and they want them to be correct, honest.''
Some in the international community are already preparing themselves for the possibility the election may be contested.
One area of concern is the impact of the tens of thousands of voters who died in the quake.
While photos and ID cardnumbers on polling station registers will make it difficult for the dead to vote, they cannot be purged from the voters' list without a death certificate.
Still, the vote on the last Sunday in November will be the first competitive election since 1990 with candidates strong enough to force a presidential runoff.
(Miami Herald) - By Jacqueline Charles
The public campaigning for Haitian elections opened with lots of questions and frustrations.
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Public campaigning for Haiti's upcoming elections opened Friday with a musical flair but no clear-cut favorite among the 19 presidential candidates vying to rebuild this earthquake-shattered nation.
A recent poll suggests that the contest is between President René Préval's 48-year-old protégé, Jude Célestin, and Mirlande Manigat, a 69-year-old twice-exiled grandmother and former first lady.
But with 1.5 million Haitians still displaced by the Jan. 12 quake, a crowded field of candidates and Haitians who are numbed by the daily grind of getting by, the only true sentiment at this moment seems to be that people are eager for change.
``We have no government. We only have a bunch of racketeers. A government is a group of people thinking for their country,'' said an unemployed Franky Metellus, 33, who has grown even more disappointed with the Préval government since the quake. ``Look at all of these young people in the streets. They are discouraged. They don't see the future.''
But it is too early to tell how such frustrations and disappointments will play out when Haitians vote in the Nov. 28 legislative and presidential elections. More than 900 candidates are vying for 110 parliamentary seats.
On Friday, the campaign season officially kicked off with a handful of rallies and public debates across the country. Thousands of people took to the streets to listen to music and rara bands with drums and shakers just outside the capital at a rally for konpa music star Michel ``Sweet Micky'' Martelly.
He led a band of pink and white-clad supporters on foot through the muddy streets of the capital, from the downtown Champs des Mars tent city to the Fontamara community, just south of Martissant.
Still, what should be a defining moment in a nation struggling to rebuild, may prove to be a time of apathy as Haitians -- traumatized by disaster fatigue, promises undelivered and governance unrealized -- simply stay home.
With little to distinguish candidates as far as programs go, many voters like Leo Pierre, 43, remain unenthusiastic and even cynical.
``I have voted so much and nothing has been realized. I don't know if I will vote,'' he said as he worked at a construction site in the Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood.
``People are tired with the government. They are not excited about the elections,'' said Daly Valet, publisher and editor-in-chief of Le Matin, a local newspaper. ``You get the impression it's a boxing match where the spectators are tired, the boxers are tired and there is nothing new to show.''
A recent, though controversial poll, of 6,000 prospective voters countrywide showed Manigat in the lead with 16.7 percent, dropping six percentage points from a similar survey taken weeks earlier by the same polling firm. Célestin, the former head of the government reconstruction agency, was next with 13 percent -- a 5 percentage point increase from his previous sixth position.
Martelly with 12.5 percent was also among candidates who polled in the top tier.
Yet one of the the most telling statistics was the percentage of voters who either were refusing to vote for any candidate, 14.8 percent, or who said they didn't know any of them, 7.5 percent.
The poll, which was taken Sept. 19-27, was commissioned by the business community and aimed at showing which candidates enjoyed name recognition among voters. It had a margin of error of 1.27 percent.
Observers say that the high percentage of ``undecided'' voters and the low percentages received by leading candidates speak to the lack of excitement.
``This is a low-profile election with low-profile candidates,'' Valet said.
But Steven Benoit, a one-time Préval supporter and former member of the lower chamber now running for one of 11 Senate seats believes ``people will go out to vote because they are frustrated.
``It is really obvious that this government has failed,'' he said. ``I truly believe these elections will be a negative report against INITE [Préval's UNITY political coalition], and I am expecting a large turnout.''
Still, some in the opposition continue to call for an election boycott even as their parliamentary candidates increasingly participate in the electoral process.
With the opposition fragmented and most candidates lacking financing, the candidates Préval supports enjoy a considerable advantage. And that worries people like Valet as Haiti's rubble-strewn streets become dominated by life-size green and yellow INITE billboards featuring a smiling Célestin.
``The democratic process has been kidnapped by money,'' Valet said. ``There are no rules to control the flow of money, no rules to control access to public and state-funded media.''
Concerns over the integrity of the voting process also persist. Last week, 45 members of the U.S. Congress, including South Florida Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Alcee L. Hastings, signed a letter urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ensure Haiti's elections are ``free, fair, and inclusive,'' because ``allowing flawed elections now will come back to haunt the international community later.''
The group raised concerns about access to voting cards -- there is just one machine in the entire country to print cards -- and the possible shortage of polling stations since many were destroyed in the quake.
They also criticized the exclusion of candidates from former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas political party and several others.
Fanmi Lavalas is barred because Aristide, head of the party for life, is the only one who can sign off on allowing the party to participate, election officials said, and he is in exile in South Africa.
Still, there are at least six Lavalas candidates in the presidential race, including former Aristide Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Minister of Haitians Living Abroad Leslie Voltaire, and Yves Cristallin, Fanmi Lavalas co-founder and former Préval minister of Social Affairs.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said the department will look into the congressional group's concerns.
``What's important is the Haitian people want democracy. There are a few who want disorder, but the Haitian people know where their interests lie,'' Préval told The Miami Herald recently.
Last week, hundreds of candidates attended an information session with electoral officials, who drummed in a message that they are committed to fair and transparent voting and are concerned about possible fraud and violence.
Manigat said she believes Haiti can pull off ``acceptable elections'' despite the challenges. Her husband, former President Leslie Manigat, finished a controversial second to Préval in 2006.
``Whatever intentions they did have to steal the elections, they cannot do it this year,'' she told The Miami Herald. ``It will be more complicated. The international community wants elections and they want them to be correct, honest.''
Some in the international community are already preparing themselves for the possibility the election may be contested.
One area of concern is the impact of the tens of thousands of voters who died in the quake.
While photos and ID cardnumbers on polling station registers will make it difficult for the dead to vote, they cannot be purged from the voters' list without a death certificate.
Still, the vote on the last Sunday in November will be the first competitive election since 1990 with candidates strong enough to force a presidential runoff.
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