Haiti News:

Crisis-Torn Haiti Braces for Ballot

NOVEMBER 26, 2010

By INGRID ARNESEN And NICHOLAS CASEY

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PORT-AU-PRINCE—After an earthquake, a hurricane and a growing cholera epidemic, Haiti is approaching its next struggle—electing a president from a slate of 18 candidates with no front-runner.

Among those angling for the job are a former first lady and a popular Haitian singer known as Sweet Micky. With no clear favorite, the decision will likely be thrown to a runoff in January.

Haiti's election could be its most important in generations. Little has been rebuilt in the Caribbean nation after the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands and leveled much of the capital.

The government says 80% of the $11 billion in aid pledged this year for reconstruction has yet to be received, bogged down by issues such as unusual earmark rules on donations and disputes over where to rebuild.

Much of Port-au-Prince remains under rubble. About 1.5 million people are still living in tent cities. Campaigning has proved nearly as chaotic as the recovery process itself, leaving many here disillusioned.

Much of the blame has shifted toward the government of President René Préval, who isn't running in Sunday's election due to term limits. After the earthquake, Mr. Préval was criticized for keeping a low profile and seldom appearing in public. The president said he was busy coordinating relief efforts and has responded to more recent discontent by saying nongovernmental organizations and foreign partners are responsible for delays in aid.

"We need leadership," says Casimir Delmas, a 35-year-old activist leading a protest against the government earlier this week. "And if you put all the candidates together, you would only get half a president."

The task for the next president was clear Tuesday in Carrefour Feuilles, one of Haiti's poorest neighborhoods and the epicenter of the quake. Dried bodies and limbs still hung from a collapsed two-story building. No campaign posters were visible and no candidates have passed through.

"No one has come," said Fevry Jean Mary, a 39-year-old mechanic who was sitting on the ruins of his home.

Some critics, among them one presidential candidate, have questioned Haiti's ability to hold a fair election this month, which will also include voting on Congressional House and Senate members.

For voters, registration cards are still scant. Many residents lost them in the earthquake and don't have replacements. It is unclear how Haiti will regulate the process. For candidates, campaigning in Haiti's battered landscape has proved a challenge. Many rural roads are in tatters and meeting halls destroyed. Polls are scarce and often contradictory. Beyond radio stations, there are few outlets for campaigning.

Perhaps most troubling is Haiti's cholera epidemic, which began in the countryside in late October and has spread to the capital. More than 1,300 people have died and thousands remain hospitalized. Last week, violence erupted in the northern city of Cap-Haitien after protestors burned cars and threw stones, accusing United Nations peacekeepers of bringing the disease to the island.

The U.N. says it is looking into the allegations. Tests by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated the disease resembles a strain in South Asia; the Haitian health ministry said the outbreak likely didn't originate in Haiti.

One concern this week was that the disease could be spread at polling booths, where voters prove that they have voted using a thumb print. Some worry that the water-borne bacteria that causes the disease could spread as voters dip into a common ink pot. "Clearly something has to be done about that," says Gerard Chevallier, a French doctor advising the Haitian ministry of health.

U.N. Humanitarian aid chief Nigel Fisher said Wednesday the plan is for the country's 11,000 voting booths to be stocked with water buckets from Haitian authorities and bars of soap from the U.N.

While there is no clear favorite, a number of contenders are leading the roster of presidential candidates.

Among them is Mirlande Manigat, a 70-year-old university professor who has called for reining in the nongovernmental organizations handling much of the aid money. She was briefly Haiti's first lady until her husband Leslie Manigat's 1988 presidency was cut short by a military coup.

Another contender is Jude Célestin, Mr. Préval's 48-year-old protégé, who came to prominence running the state construction company during the earthquake. While known as a seasoned bureaucrat, his ties to Mr. Préval may prove a liability given the president's low profile after the disaster, which angered many Haitians.

Jean-Henri Ceant, a candidate for an alliance of populist parties, lamented the lack of progress in rebuilding Haiti amid its disastersand promised to hasten the process.
(source:the wallstreet journal)

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