Haiti elections 2015: Presidential and runoff elections postponed

Electoral authorities in Haiti have postponed presidential and legislative runoffs set for this weekend.

In a brief statement issued Monday evening, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council said the vote scheduled for December 27 has been postponed until a special commission can make its recommendations.

In recent days, President Michel Martelly announced that a 5-member commission would assess Haiti’s electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud.

Council spokesman Roudy Stanley Penn says a new election date should be announced soon.

For weeks, an opposition alliance has demanded an independent review of late October elections that it insists were rigged in favor of the government-backed presidential candidate.

In their final results, the Provisional Electoral Council said Jovenel Moïse had nearly 33 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent for Jude Célestin, a former state construction chief. Célestin has dismissed the final results as a “ridiculous farce” and alleged that the CEP was complicit in vote-rigging in favor of Moïse.

The office of Prime Minister Evans Paul said an evaluation commission was expected to be installed Tuesday.

Martelly, who is blocked by the constitution from seeking a consecutive term, is due to leave office on Feb. 7.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.