Protests continue over Haiti election results
Key Points(5)
- The release of legislative election results has sparked violence in sections of the capital.
- On Saturday street protests erupted, leading to several government buildings being set ablaze and the death of one demonstrator.
- The police report that an 18-year-old protester was fatally shot when two factions clashed.
- Unrest was also reported in at least five of the country’s departments – the North, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast and West.
- The long-delayed parliamentary results were released just over a week before the December 27 runoffs.
The release of legislative election results has sparked violence in sections of the capital.
On Saturday street protests erupted, leading to several government buildings being set ablaze and the death of one demonstrator. The police report that an 18-year-old protester was fatally shot when two factions clashed. Unrest was also reported in at least five of the country’s departments – the North, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast and West.
The long-delayed parliamentary results were released just over a week before the December 27 runoffs. All 10 sitting members of Haiti's Senate had urged President Michel Martelly to prevent electoral authorities from issuing final results for legislative races until a commission could be set up to verify the integrity of the vote.
Late last week, a five-member “Electoral Evaluation Commission” was formed to review the October 25 vote in hopes of breaking the impasse. However, the commission has come under heavy criticism. The opposition and the Senate have rejected the body. Among the issues is that the commission would have just 72 hours to provide recommendations to the government and elections officials about its findings.
In recent days, several legislative candidates have taken to the airwaves stating how they were asked to pay thousands of dollars in bribes to electoral court judges and council members in hopes of securing a spot in parliament. While international observers have endorsed results from the first two rounds of this year's elections, an array of rights groups, local election monitors and political factions allege they were so marred by fraud that their validity is in question.
