Haiti: Presidential run-off elections postponed for third time

The second round presidential election in Haiti was postponed again Sunday, although the outgoing president has less than three weeks of his term left. Haiti’s political problems are making an economically challenging situation even more politically fraught.

Haiti’s Electoral Council says the second round runoff is going to be delayed due to security concerns. This raises the question of just what is going to happen about the leadership issue, as incumbent President Michel Martelly is supposed to step down from office in just over 2 weeks.

Businessman Jovenel Moïse won round one of the presidential election in November, with 33 percent of the vote, which was not enough for outright victory. Runner-up Jude Celestin, who is the former head of the national construction company and polled 25 percent.

On Sunday, Moïse supporters in favor of holding the election protested for the first time, using trucks to block a northern highway that is a major trade route with the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Célestin had earlier announced that he would not participate in the runoff vote, which he called a “farce.”

Martelly says the fraud claims are unfounded, but critics believe he unfairly favored his chosen successor, Moïse. Critics of the electoral process have come from various institutions across the country including members of the Martelly administration.

Haiti can ill afford this instability. The country is still struggling to overcome the effects of the 2010 earthquake which killed more than 200,000 of its population and devastated infrastructure.