Americas News

Haiti's definitive election results postponed again

Apr 18, 2011, 17:33 GMT

Port-au-Prince - The release of final official results in Haiti's presidential election have been postponed again and are to be made public Wednesday.

Haitian media reported Monday that the results, which were originally expected Saturday before being postponed until Monday, had again been postponed until Wednesday.

Preliminary results released earlier this month showed popular singer Michel Martelly won the March 20 presidential run-off election. According to those initial results, Martelly won the presidency with 67.6 per cent of the votes, to former first lady Mirlande Manigat's 31.7 per cent.

If confirmed, the 50-year-old entertainer, perceived as an outsider in Haitian politics, will take over May 14 from President Rene Preval, who was banned from running for another term by the Haitian constitution.

The first round of presidential elections in November was marked by chaos and charges of manipulation and corruption. After that first vote, Martelly was third behind Manigat and Preval's chosen successor, Jude Celestin. Exit polls and observations by neutral groups indicated that Martelly should have taken second place, and violence broke out in the streets.

Under pressure from the international community, Celestin eventually withdrew amid allegations of vote fraud. Martelly took his place in the run-off.

The new president will face enormous challenges, chiefly the recovery from the January 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and killed more than 220,000 people. The Caribbean country, the poorest in the Americas, is also beset by a cholera epidemic.

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