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Haiti Awaits Election Results

   VOA News  April 04, 2011
   People mark their ballots during presidential elections in
   Port-au-Prince, March 21, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   People mark their ballots during presidential elections in
   Port-au-Prince, March 21, 2011

   The electoral council in Haiti is expected to announce preliminary
   results Monday from last month's presidential runoff election.
   Former first lady Mirlande Manigat and popular singer Michel Martelly
   are vying for the presidency.
   Deadly protests erupted in December after the electoral council
   announced that Martelly had been excluded from the runoff. He was put
   on the ballot after the council implemented some recommendations from
   the Organization of American States, which reviewed the results from
   the first round in November and recommended Martelly advance, instead
   of Jude Celestin, the ruling party candidate. The observers cited fraud
   and irregularities in the first round.
   Final results from the runoff election are expected April 16.
   Aristide
   The March 20 runoff took place two days after former President
   Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti from exile in South Africa.
   Aristide, who was driven from office by armed rebels in 2004, returned
   to the Caribbean nation, despite U.S. concerns that his presence could
   destabilize the vote.
   Aristide expressed a desire to go back to Haiti after former dictator
   Jean-Claude Duvalier made a surprise return in January.
   Reconstruction woes
   Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. It is struggling to
   rebuild following a January 2010 earthquake that killed more than
   200,000 people and left one million others homeless.
   Hundreds-of-thousands of people still live in tent camps.
   A deadly cholera epidemic that broke out late last year has killed
   thousands. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said recently
   there are signs the epidemic is finally coming under control.

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