Haitians vote for new President this weekend

Haitians go to the polls to elect a president this weekend despite the fact that much of the southwest is still in ruins from Hurricane Matthew, parts of the north have been battered by floods.

Haitian authorities acknowledge the timing isn’t ideal, but say it is time for the drifting country to move forward.

“The upcoming elections will be crucial for the democratic future of the country,” Interim President Jocelerme Privert said in a national address this week.

Sunday’s voters will choose from among 27 candidates for president, with the top 2 finishers going to a January 29 runoff. They will also be electing 16 senators and 25 members of the Chamber of Deputies.

The electoral cycle began more than a year ago, but it has been repeatedly derailed. A first-round presidential vote held in October 2015 was annulled after a special commission found it appeared to be tainted by fraud.
Privert, chosen by Parliament, remains in office even though his 120-day term ended in June.

A redo vote was finally scheduled for early October. But that had to be scrapped when Hurricane Matthew devastated the country on October 4. Since then, roughly 250 storm-damaged schools and other voting centers have been mended. In some places tents will serve as emergency election stations.

Election fatigue

Election officials are hoping to improve on the 26 percent turnout in the annulled round of voting last year, but they are battling election fatigue, voter disenchantment and obstacles facing residents in storm-ravaged areas.

Some Haitians in the storm-impacted southwest say they resent being asked to vote as they struggle with basic necessities in Matthew’s aftermath. But others say they are eager to get elections over with, hopeful a new administration will better their lives and improve relief efforts.

There’s no clear front-runner in the crowded presidential field. Polls are contradictory and unreliable. Some analysts believe the top contenders are Jovenel Moïse, the leading candidate in the annulled 2015 vote and the choice of ex-President Michel Martelly, and Jude Célestin, who led an election boycott last year after finishing 2nd.

There have been fewer big rallies than during previous campaigns, and many of the election posters plastered around the crowded capital feature candidates who have long since dropped out.

Major presidential candidates have used youth-friendly cellphone apps to promise a jobs bonanza in an attempt to rally enthusiasm among young people in a country where the median age is 22. Candidate Jean-Henry Ceant vows to create 100,000 jobs in 100 days. Lavalas hopeful Maryse Narcisse is promising a subway and cable car network in the capital’s metropolitan area. Célestin says the economy will grow by 12 percent in his final year in office.

Source: Associated Press