AMERICA/HAITI - A President of transition and elections on April 24

Monday, 8 February 2016 politics   area crisis   poverty  

Port au Prince (Agenzia Fides) - An agreement in extremis was signed on February 6 by President Michel Martelly at the conclusion of his term and by the presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Jocelerme Privert and Cholzer Chancy, for the appointment of a president of transition who will have to organize new elections in order to keep the country from plunging into an immediate power vacuum. Under the new agreement, parliament will elect an interim president. The country's runoff election is now scheduled for April.
According to local sources (see Fides 04/02/2016), the main opposition candidate Jude Celestin withdrew from the election race denouncing a "coup election". His gesture provoked reactions to the point that some members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) resigned; some polling stations were destroyed by demonstrators; a Senate resolution called for the postponement of the elections; the Catholic Church launched an appeal to dialogue and negotiation; major demonstrations were announced to avoid a runoff.
Faced with this crisis, President Martelly had pledged to leave the leadership of the government, as established by the Constitution, so the government proposed four alternatives: a new Constitution, the continuity of Martelly’s mandate to guarantee a new electoral process, the passage of control of the country to the national Assembly, to entrust the government to the judiciary. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 08/02/2016)


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