27789: Craig (news) BBC: Haiti orders poll 'fraud' inquiry (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig


Haiti orders poll 'fraud' inquiry

Haiti's interim government has ordered an inquiry into allegations of fraud 
during last week's presidential vote.

Election front-runner Rene Preval said "massive fraud" had probably denied him 
an outright victory in the first round.

He warned Haitians would stage more street protests if partial poll results - 
which point to the need for a second round - were published as final.

The government has meanwhile banned the publication of full results until the 
inquiry into alleged fraud is complete.

Footage broadcast on a local television station on Tuesday night appeared to 
show hundreds of charred ballots at a garbage dump in the capital, 
Port-au-Prince.

Many of the ballots appeared to be marked in favour of Mr Preval, prompting 
protests from his supporters at the scene.

Crowds later marched through the streets of the city, chanting Mr Preval's name 
and decrying the alleged fraud.

An electoral official told Reuters news agency there would be an investigation 
into the "unacceptable" apparent dumping of ballots.

According to a UN spokesman, the ballots could have come from any of nine 
polling stations ransacked on election day.

Spokesman David Wimhurst said the ballots may have been placed at the dump to 
suggest fraud had taken place, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The leader of the Organization of American States is due to visit Haiti on 
Wednesday to try to calm tensions.

Jose Miguel Insulza is expected to meet political leaders and members of the 
electoral commission.

Street protests

Mr Preval used to be an ally of ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide 
and has inherited his following among the poor.

He insists he has won the vote but partial results suggest he is just short of 
the 50% needed to be elected outright.

His supporters allege the vote has been rigged by the Haitian elite, which is 
suspicious of Mr Preval's links to Mr Aristide.

"We are convinced that either massive fraud or gross errors stain the 
[electoral] process," Mr Preval said on Tuesday, in his first public comments 
since the protests began.

He urged his supporters to continue demonstrating "but in respect of the rights 
of others".

"If they publish the results as they are now," Mr Preval said, "we will oppose 
them, the Haitian people will also oppose them, and there will be protests."

Following his comments, the government announced it would hold an inquiry into 
the fraud allegations.

The interim president's chief of staff is quoted as saying he expects the 
investigation, which will include members of the government, electoral 
commission and Mr Preval's party, to release its findings within three days.

"The government will play the role of referee in this commission," Michel 
Brunach told the AFP news agency.

Haiti - the poorest country in the continent - is choosing a 129-member 
parliament as well as a new president.

Burning tyres

BBC Americas analyst Simon Watts, reporting from Miami, says the Haitian 
authorities seem to be damned whatever they do.

He says they risk sparking more unrest if they conclude Mr Preval is short of a 
majority - but declaring him an outright winner could look like a fix.

On Tuesday, barricades of burning tyres and branches remained on roads in 
Port-au-Prince, and many international flights to and from the capital stayed 
suspended.

Supporters of Mr Preval accused UN peacekeepers on Monday of firing into a 
crowd, killing at least one person - a charge the UN denied.

The UN Security Council has renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping force in 
Haiti for at least another six months.

The 9,500-strong mission, established in 2004 after President Aristide was 
forced out of power, is under Brazilian command.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4713802.stm
Published: 2006/02/15 06:43:43 GMT
© BBC MMVI