Haiti elections 2015: Front runner Jovenel Moïse says critics not backing up claims of electoral fraud

Jovenel Moïse – who is the leading candidate in the disputed first round of Haiti’s presidential vote – insists that critics are not providing evidence to back up their allegations of “massive fraud.”

Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council says Moïse received 33 percent of the October 25 vote to clear the packed field of 54 presidential candidates. Contested officials results have the him with 117,602 more votes than second-place finisher Jude Celestin, a former state construction chief.

The disputed results have brought a renewed surge of street protests and so many broad accusations of electoral fraud from civil society and opposition groups it is not clear whether a December 27 presidential runoff between the top two finishers can take place as scheduled.

At a press conference last week, Moïse asserted that Haiti’s National Human Rights Defence Network and other organizations have been making baseless accusations of widespread fraud including political-party representatives voting multiple times. He said there were various problems with the first round and he has made recommendations to the much-criticized Provisional Electoral Council, “but you can’t discredit the whole process.”

“The Haitian people voted for me and they put me in the first position,” said Moïse, an agricultural businessman who was plucked from political obscurity by outgoing President Michel Martelly to be his successor.

Celestin and 7 other candidates have formed an opposition alliance and assert that the vote and ballot-count were far too problematic to be legitimate. Since the Provisional Electoral Council refused their demands for an independent recount, they are calling for a transitional government to oversee new elections within two years unless changes are made to the council and police before the scheduled December 27 runoff.

During the last election cycle, Celestin was eliminated from the presidential runoff after the Organization of American States recommended that he be removed in favor of Martelly – who ended up winning the presidency, taking office in May 2011.

In a statement early last week, Haiti’s human rights sector said the Provisional Electoral Council has “lost all credibility and has shown itself to be incapable of carrying out free and democratic elections.”

Haitian election authorities say the vote was a success and that fraud allegations have been properly investigated. They also say they lack the authority to appoint an independent panel to verify results.

Source: Agencies