MADE IN USA WITH 60 MILLION - Haiti Elections Archives

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - Foreign diplomats in Haiti considered proposals that would give Rene Preval his claimed presidential election victory, as his supporters again demonstrated against alleged fraud.

Further delaying the outcome of the February 7 vote, a commission was formed to probe frontrunner Preval's claims of "massive fraud or gross errors."

Representatives of the international community in Haiti were considering ways of avoiding a second round that could further fuel tension in the Caribbean country, a senior Brazilian government official said.

One proposal under consideration is to remove blank ballots from the count, according to sources close to the talks.

With 90 percent of the ballots counted, Preval had 48.76 percent of the vote.

Should the 85,290 blank ballots counted so far be discarded, he would jump to just over 51 percent and win outright without having to go to a runoff election.

"We are making proposals without trying to interfere in Haiti's legal process, but we feel that given the climate in the country, this would be the best solution," Marco Aurelio Garcia, a top foreign policy aide to the Brazilian president said in Brasilia.

Brazil commands the 9,500-strong UN force deployed in Haiti.

Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States arrived in Port-au-Prince Wednesday to participate in what he called efforts to "find peaceful and democratic solutions to the situation."

Before arriving here and during a stopover in Santo Domingo, Insulza said of the Haiti election that he did "not believe there has been fraud, but there have been mistakes in the process."

Preval for his part, has held several meeting with foreign diplomats and interim president Boniface Alexandre over the past days.

As the discussions were underway, Preval supporters took to the streets across the capital for a fifth consecutive day, incensed over the discovery of ballots at a garbage dump in the capital.

Several thousand people gathered outside the presidential palace, chanting "abuse, abuse," holding aloft ballot boxes and waving pictures of Preval.

"We are protesting because they stole our votes," said Simon Jean Eud, 28, brandishing a torn ballot marked for Preval, which he said came from the dump.

Many businesses remained closed and American Airlines canceled its flights to Miami for the third day running amid security concerns.

In New York, the UN Security Council urged authorities to fully probe the claims of irregularities, and called on Haitians to respect the outcome of the vote when it is finally announced.

Preval has rejected the partial results that put him shy of a majority despite a huge lead over his 31 rivals.

If Preval, 63, does not top 50 percent of the votes, he will have to compete in a runoff poll with Leslie Manigat, 75, who took a distant second place.

Authorities have indicated the final outcome of the election would not be announced until completion of the probe to be conducted by Preval's party and the electoral council with the government acting as referee.

"We are convinced that we will win in the first round," said Preval, who was president from 1996 to 2001 and who enjoys strong support among the millions of impoverished Haitians.

Preval on Tuesday encouraged his supporters to continue demonstrating their rejection of the partial results, but urged them to do so peacefully.

On Monday, a protester was shot dead during a demonstration.

The UN Stabilization Force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said UN troops were nearby but rejected claims they were responsible for the death, insisting they fired in the air and not at protesters.

The UN force, headed by Brazil, was deployed in 2004 after a popular uprising forced Jean Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's last elected president, to flee into exile.

In New York, the UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to renew MINUSTAH's mandate for at least another six months.

Reply to: Msg 2503
Topic: Charles Henry Baker
Posted by Hernandez on 2/15/06 9:57 PM