|
Haitian elections to be postponed
 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haiti will postpone national elections set for Jan. 8 amid disorganization and security threats including the kidnapping of three Organization of American States election workers.Delays in distributing 3.5 million voter ID cards, chaotic voting centers and problems with the voter database were the main reasons for the elections being postponed a fourth time, Rosemond Pradel, secretary general of Haitiâs Provisional Electoral Council, told The Associated Press on Friday.
There was no immediate official announcement of the latest postponement. âIn public, the date is still Jan. 8, but in private, everybody knows that this wonât be the case, and that we probably wonât even be able to announce a new date for the elections by then,â Pradel said in a telephone interview. Max Mathurin, chairman of the Provisional Electoral Council, said the council would meet with political leaders to explain the situation and consider a new date. âMy goal is to clarify the calendar,â Mathurin told AP. He said he would hold elections âas soon as is realistically possible,â but could not predict when that will be. The United Nations and the Organization of American States - which are providing most of the logistics for the vote - declined to comment ahead of an official announcement by the electoral council. There are 35 candidates for president and hundreds for 129 legislative seats in the elections, which are being funded by the international community. The winners will replace an interim government installed after Aristideâs ouster in February 2004. The three kidnapped OAS representatives - a Peruvian, a Guatemalan and a Haitian - were abducted Thursday as they drove near the volatile slum of Cite Soleil, said police Chief Mario Andresol. He said he did not know their names. âI am convinced this is politically motivated,â Andresol said in a telephone interview, without elaborating.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-12-31 |
||
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=138687 |