Haitians on Sunday nervously awaited the final outcome of presidential polls, and authorities called for calm after René Prevál, a champion the poor, fell below the 50% needed to win outright.
With one fourth of the ballots still to be counted, Prevál, a former president, dominated the vote, but with 49,1%, he was almost one point short of the majority he needs to avoid going to a second round.
This stirred tensions in the volatile Caribbean nation, where thousands of residents of violent Port-au-Prince slums took to the streets on Saturday, chanting their conviction that Prevál already had won.
Authorities urged Haitians to await and respect the outcome of the February 7 presidential and legislative elections when it is eventually announced, probably later on Sunday.
”I urge the population not to demonstrate so as not to soil such a pure and magnanimous act, because such demonstrations could lead to violence,” said electoral council director Jacques Bernard.
While Saturday’s marches were peaceful, a senior United Nations official in Haiti said that if Prevál is not elected in the first round ”there is a risk of violent demonstrations,” particularly in the capital’s notorious Cite Soleil shantytown.
”If there is a second round, the most radical elements in Cite Soleil will claim Prevál’s victory was stolen,” he said, asking not to be identified.
Adding to the concern, Sunday night is a traditional date for carnival rehearsals, when rowdy crowds usually pour into the streets.
Former South African Anglican archbishop and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu made his own appeal for peace and peace and reconciliation during an ecumenical service at the Sainte Trinite Cathedral in downtown Port-au-Prince.
”The people of Haiti say yes to peace … no to revenge,” he told worshipers, which included government officials and foreign diplomats.
”Long live peace,” said Tutu, who is on a four-day visit to Haiti.
”You have shown the world you are not a violent people,” he said with reference to Tuesday’s presidential and legislative elections, which were largely free of electoral or political violence.
Should the balloting go to a runoff, scheduled for March 19, Prevál would likely battle it out with Manigat (75) also a former president.
The partial results gave Manigat 11,7% of the vote, followed by industrialist Charles Henri Baker, with eight percent.
Prevál is a one-time ally of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president who resigned and fled Haiti in February 2004 amid popular discontent and diplomatic pressure from Washington and Paris.
Prevál was president from 1996 to 2001, served as prime minister under Aristide in 1991, but his aides say the two men are no longer in contact.
Like Aristide before him, Prevál is often seen as a champion of the poor, who make up 77% of Haiti’s population of 8,5-million.
Despite a late and at times chaotic start after four postponements since November, international observers said the election was a triumph for a dirt-poor country with a history of violence and fraudulent balloting. Authorities estimated turnout at
63% of the 3,5-million registered voters.
”I want to applaud you,” said Tutu.
Largely financed by the international community, the election was closely watched by the United Nations and its 9 500-strong military and police force in Haiti, deployed in 2004 after the country plunged into chaos. – AFP
