[R-G] Lavalas flexes its muscles in Haiti

[Anthony Fenton]

http://haitiaction.net/News/HIP/4_20_9/4_20_9.html

©2009 -Haiti Information Project/Jean Ristil

Lavalas flexes its muscles in Haiti

by Kevin Pina


Haiti's Lavalas movement effectively destroyed the credibility of  
yesterday's Senate election through a successful boycott campaign  
called Operation Closed Door. Even the most generous electoral count  
puts participation at less than 10% in the capital of Port-au-Prince  
while the actual figure may be as low as 3% nationwide.

According to Rene Civil, one of the spokespersons for Operation Closed  
Door, "What we are seeing is the non-violent resistance of the Haitian  
people to undemocratic elections. There is no way they will be able to  
call the Senators elected in this process legitimate. You cannot hold  
elections without the majority political party." Ronald Fareau,  
another representative of the campaign stated, "We want to  
congratulate the international community for their hypocrisy in these  
elections. They spent over 17 million dollars on another electoral  
fraud in Haiti while our people continue to suffer from malnutrition  
and illiteracy."

The controversy over the election began when factions of the Fanmi  
Lavalas party originally presented two slates of candidates to the  
Conseil Electoral Provisoire or CEP. In an apparent attempt to wrest  
control from Aristide, one faction led by former Prime Minister Yvon  
Neptune questioned the legitimacy of the slate presented by the former  
president's appointed representative Dr. Maryse Narcisse. Neptune's  
faction presented a second slate but in the end the Fanmi Lavalas  
party's leadership managed to hammer out a compromise list of  
candidates in time to meet the deadline.

The CEP finally refused to accept the Fanmi Lavalas applications on  
the grounds they did not have former president Jean-Bertrand  
Aristide's personal signature from exile in South Africa. The CEP  
reportedly would not allow for a facsimile copy of his signature on  
the documents when they were presented on the final day of the  
application deadline. This effectively excluded all Fanmi Lavalas  
candidates from participating in the election and led to the boycott  
of the Senate elections on Sunday.

Neptune and other members of his faction within the Fanmi Lavalas  
party called for participation in the election despite the nationwide  
boycott. Early Sunday morning Neptune said publicly on a local radio  
program, "We must vote today if we are to keep the integrity of the  
democratic process." When asked on Radio Caraibe's Ranmase program if  
he had a message for voters Neptune responded, "Vote well." The  
success of yesterday's boycott was taken as a referendum of support  
for Aristide by the base of the Lavalas movement in the much-touted  
internal party conflict.

Although there were some reports of sporadic violence in yesterday's  
elections between supporters of current president Rene Preval's Lespwa  
party and its rival L'Union, the disruptions were isolated to a single  
city, Mirebalais in the country's Central Plateau region.

There were largely no reports of violence or voting irregularities in  
the capital where streets and polling stations remained deserted  
throughout the day. The only incident occurred in the seaside  
shantytown of Cite Soleil after a member of the L'Union party was  
accused of handing out money and food to bribe voters.

Private vehicles and motorcycles were banned during the election as  
they were during the presidential election in Feb. 2006. Where long  
lines formed at the polls early in the day on Feb. 7, 2006, polling  
stations remained virtually empty on Sunday due to the Lavalas boycott.

Five Lavalas hunger strikers continued to occupy Haiti' s parliament  
building in an effort to draw attention to their party's exclusion  
from the election. They vowed to continue until the election is  
nullified and demanded that they be held over again during upcoming  
national elections scheduled for November.

As of 2:00 PM in Haiti today, thousands of demonstrators were  
gathering in front of the parliament to support the hunger strikers as  
SWAT teams with the Haitian National Police, backed by UN military  
personnel, were seen surrounding the building.