President Thabo Mbeki on Saturday hailed the recent democratic elections in Haiti and presidential winner René Préval, though the future of the Caribbean nation’s exiled leader is not known.
”South Africa is of the firm view that the outcome of the elections is indeed an expression of the democratic will of the people of Haiti,” Mbeki said in a communiqué about the February 7 vote.
He added that ”the entire peoples of Africa and indeed the African diaspora” are ready to help the Haitians ”in their efforts to build a peaceful, stable, just and prosperous Haiti”.
However, Mbeki’s message said nothing about the future for Haiti’s former president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, who has been living in exile in South Africa for about two years.
Last week, South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said Pretoria would evaluate the situation in Haiti after the elections to see if Aristide’s return to his homeland would be possible under good conditions.
Préval (63) was declared the winner on Thursday following a reshuffling of blank ballots in an internationally brokered deal over fraud claims.
Préval, a former president from 1996 to 2001, served as prime minister in Aristide’s government in 1991. His aides say he is no longer in touch with Aristide. — Sapa-AFP