Interim
President Jocelerme Privert said this week that Haiti’s
Oct. 9 elections are “irreversible,” calling on
government authorities and police to refrain from
interference and voters to remain non-violent.
Meanwhile, Haitian
and international election observation groups are
preparing for the vote, running simulations and
collecting candidate programs.
On Sep. 23, Privert addressed the 71st
opening session of the United Nations General Assembly
in New York.
He told the body that Haitians would vote in two weeks,
and that “without honest and credible elections, it is
futile to hope for a peaceful political transition.” He
is scheduled to pass power to Haiti’s next elected
president on Feb. 7, 2017.
On returning to Haiti on Sep. 26, Privert held a
press conference to reassure a jittery nation that the
elections are on track.
"On Oct. 9, elections will be held in an
irreversible way,” Privert declared. “The skeptics, who
didn’t believe that the government would carry out the
elections, are now facing a machine that nothing can
stop. The election schedule is going forward just as
planned, and there is no delay in its implementation.”
With manifest pride, Privert said that “people
thought it impossible for the Haitian state to mobilize
the funds required by the CEP [Provisional Electoral
Council], but today we can say with satisfaction that
without upsetting macroeconomic stability and without
resorting to printing money, the state has been able to
disburse up to $25 million from the Treasury to finance
the next election.” The entire election, which the U.S.
government has refused to financially support, has a
price tag of $55 million, including the Jan. 8, 2017
second round.
“What remains now is the issue of security,”
Privert said. He called on the CEP, government
authorities, and the police to adopt a policy of “zero
tolerance” of any disruptions of the vote. “These
elections are too important for the future of the
country,” he said.
“Without these elections, on the second Monday of
January 2017, there will be no Government, ministers
will have no legitimacy, Parliament will be
dysfunctional, there will not be, like today, any
judiciary because the Supreme Court has only two out of
12 judges with any constitutional legitimacy,” Privert
declared. “So it would be the collapse of all our
republican institutions. That's the importance of these
elections."
He appealed for electoral rallies to be held “in
peace and with respect for one another” and for
political leaders to “urge your supporters to be
tolerant and respect the partisans of other candidates.”
Privert also warned police officers, prosecutors,
and other judicial authorities “to refrain from any
interference in the electoral process.” Those disobeying
this order would be fired, he said. State vehicles are
also prohibited from being used to help candidates
campaign.
“We want these elections to be carried out
without interference from the authorities,” Privert
concluded. “This is the only guarantee that the
elections will be impartial, credible, democratic, and
transparent. Candidates, I urge you to demand that the
CEP be transparent in all of its decisions, and it is
necessary that vote counting be done in the presence of
candidates or their representatives. For once, let's
give the country elections that everyone accepts as
good.”
Meanwhile, international observers are beginning
to arrive in Haiti, like those of the Organization of
American States (OAS) last weekend. The Boston-based New
England Human Rights Organization will send an observer
delegation of Haitians and North Americans from Oct.
6-11.
In May 2015, three Haitian organizations –
JuriMédia, the Ecumenical Center for Human Rights (ECHR)
and the Civil Society Initiative (ISC) – joined together
to form the
Citizen Observatory for
Institutionalizing Democracy (OCID). Some
Haitians are suspicious of OCID because it is financed
and supported by the National Democratic Institute
(NDI), an arm of Washington’s National Endowment for
Democracy (NED). Furthermore, Rosny Desroches, one of
OCID’s principal leaders, has historically been close to
the U.S. Embassy.
On Sep. 25, OCID carried out an election day
“simulation” with 1,505 observers and 77 technicians to
practice what it plans to do on Oct. 9: collect,
process, and disseminate information on how the vote is
proceeding.
Some have warned OCID that under the 1987 Haitian
Constitution and the 2015 Electoral Decree, only the CEP
can disseminate information on the elections as they are
being conducted. Critics fear premature OCID reports
could interfere with the vote.
On Sep. 22, OCID also released
a report analyzing
the political programs of four leading presidential
candidates: Jude Célestin, Moïse Jean-Charles,
Jean-Henry Céant, and Jovenel Moïse. Written by Dr.
Fritz Dorvilier, Ph. D, the report purports to analyze,
very technocratically, the “strong points” and “weak
points” of each candidate’s program. Glaringly absent,
for unstated reasons, was any review of the program of
the Lavalas Family party’s Dr. Maryse Narcisse.
In short, both international observer missions
like that of the OAS and Haitian ones like OCID will be
closely observed themselves by wary voters, who are
anxious for elections free from spin and interference.
None want an “electoral coup” like that of 2010-11.
Meanwhile, candidates are campaigning around
Haiti in a tense atmosphere. Large crowds have greeted
the four leading presidential candidates – Dr. Maryse
Narcisse (accompanied by former president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide) of the Lavalas Family party, former Sen. Moïse
Jean-Charles of the Lavalas breakaway Dessalines
Children (PD), Jude Célestin of the Alternative League
for Progress and Haitian Emancipation (LAPEH), which is
close to former President René Préval, and Jovenel
Moïse, the candidate of former president Michel
Martelly’s Haitian Bald Headed Party (PHTK).
There have been sporadic attacks against some of the
electoral caravans. Narcisse’s entourage encountered
rock-throwing in Gonaïves and scuffles in Cap Haïtien. A
window on Jean-Charles’ car was broken when his
electoral caravan was attacked near Cerca-la-Source in
the Center Department.
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