Haiti to Probe Vote Fraud Claims

Haiti to probe vote fraud claims

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Vote fraud claims made by Haiti’s top candidate Rene Preval will be probed by a commission made up of members of his party, electoral and government officials, announced the presidency on Tuesday.

The presidency called for the final results of the presidential election to be kept until the commission concludes its work.

Presidential chief of staff Michel Brunach said he hoped the probe would ease the current political tensions and expected the group to issue a report within three days.

Haiti is now facing mounting tensions due to allegations of fraud in last Tuesday’s elections. Protests erupted when election results indicated candidate Rene Preval did not get 50 percent of the vote needed to secure victory in the first round.

At least one person died during demonstrations supporting Preval in Port-au-Prince, and several others were injured in clashes with UN troops. Groups of demonstrators marched again on Tuesday, but the city was generally calm.

The UN Security Council, the United States and France have urged all Haitians to respect the election results, but Preval insists on his victory in the vote.

Preval claimed that the electoral process was marred by “massive fraud or gross errors,” and urged his supporters to continue protesting.

Based on 72 percent of ballots tallied from Feb. 7 election, Preval held a strong lead with 49.6 percent of the votes, but less than the 50 percent needed to avoid a second-round voting in March.

Haitian business people, civil society and political actors have also begun negotiations in the hope of avoiding a second round of voting. Preval’s five opponents have already conceded defeat and agreed that a second round would unnecessarily cause more violence in the country.

The presidential and parliamentary elections in Haiti were held last Tuesday after being postponed four times. They were the first races since the ousting of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide two years ago. Nearly 3.5 million eligible voters registered for the polls.