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Article Artículo

Preval rejects calls for fair elections; How will Washington and the international community respond?
The AP reported late last night that President Preval had rejected many of the recommendations outlined in Senator Lugar's report for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which we wrote about yesterday. While Preval did formally set a date for elections, a key recommendation of the report, he refused to work with international partners to reform the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) or to do more to ensure a fully inclusive electoral process. The Miami Herald and Reuters also have the story. As we wrote yesterday, and a number of times previously, Haiti's largest party, Fanmi Lavalas was excluded from 2009 elections and also from the planned February elections. Preval, however, defended the action, the AP writes:
He also defended the prohibition on the exiled Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party in last year's elections, a ban that came after rival factions of the party submitted competing lists of candidates.

"International donors need to look for an accord with the CEP and the political parties and the factions of Fanmi Lavalas," Preval said. "We are giving (the parties) the support that they need, and the factions need to figure it out (for themselves)."

Jake Johnston / July 01, 2010

Article Artículo

With Date for Elections Set, Next Step is to Ensure Full Participation
Haitian President Rene Preval signed a decree on Tuesday setting November 28, 2010 as the election date, the AP reports. According to AFP, not only will a new president be elected, but the entire Chamber of Deputies and one third of the senate are also up for grabs. Serious issues, however, have yet to be resolved. As we have noted numerous times before, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) excluded 15 political parties from participating in the legislative elections planned for February. Among the parties excluded was Fanmi Lavalas, the most popular party. There has been no indication if the exclusion will hold for the November elections.

There are also constitutional issues concerning the CEP. The Haitian Constitution calls for a Permanent Electoral Council, however the current Provisional council’s members were appointed by Preval during his term in office. The parties that had been excluded were predominantly opponents of Preval's INITE coalition, raising concern over the independence of the CEP. Al-Jazeera, in their coverage of the election decree, note that Preval "did not address opponents' calls for the council itself to be replaced before a vote is held."

Jake Johnston / June 30, 2010