See: Haitian Election
The results are in:
"Haiti reaches deal on provisional government" by David McFadden Associated Press February 06, 2016
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Top Haitian leaders have reached an agreement to install a provisional government less than a day before President Michel Martelly is scheduled to step down, an official with the Organization of American States said Saturday.
Special mission leader Ronald Sanders said the interim president will be elected by Parliament for a term of 120 days. He said Prime Minister Evans Paul will remain in his position until lawmakers confirm a prime minister in upcoming days.
The interim government will continue an electoral process that began last year. It will hold a second round of presidential and legislative elections April 24. A new president is scheduled to be installed on May 14 and will rule Haiti for the next five years.
“The country now has an opportunity for a fresh start,” Sanders said, adding that Parliament would invite nominations for an interim president soon.
The deal, if it holds, will prevent an institutional vacuum when Martelly leaves office Sunday and creates a roadmap for an elected leader to replace him in a few months. But there appeared to be no break in opposition protests in the capital Saturday, and recent violence suggests discord is likely to continue.
Sanders said the deal was signed overnight following “very animated” negotiations Friday between Martelly, the two leaders of Haiti’s bicameral legislature, and numerous lawmakers. Sanders, an Antiguan diplomat, is mission leader and chairman of the 35-nation OAS’ permanent council.
A senior member of Haiti’s ruling party who was not authorized to talk to the media said lawmakers will meet Sunday to start the process to elect an interim president.
The OAS mission had been observing negotiations to resolve a standoff over a disputed round of voting in August and October that led officials to suspend a runoff election that had been scheduled for Jan. 24.
Opposition leaders have repeatedly said Martelly could not be part of the process, but Sanders, who stressed he was a witness and not a participant in the talks, said the deal was reached by elected officials who have the authority to do so.
“I don’t think that anybody could say that it was a cooked-up agreement because it was done by people who didn’t have the right or the authority to do it,” Sanders said. “Indeed, there are no other two sets of entities in this country that could have signed a legitimate agreement.”
Looks like a U.S.-installed regime to me.
When asked whether a commission would be set up to verify results of the contested Oct. 25 vote, Sanders said: “I would not discount the idea that there would be some form of verification.”
Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council has repeatedly rejected opposition demands for an independent review of the election results, fueling suspicions of vote-rigging.
OAS officials have held more than 25 meetings since they arrived last Sunday but never met with Jude Celestin, a candidate who had been boycotting the presidential runoff, despite numerous invitations to him.
Celestin did not immediately return a call for comment. The OAS, however, did meet with other members of the opposition alliance known as the Group of Eight, which includes Celestin.
They have a Gang of Eight, too, huh?
That alliance has been critical of the OAS mission, saying it would interfere in efforts to resolve the political crisis.
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Also see: Haiti lawmakers elect Senate chief as provisional president
Anything else going on in Haiti?
Related: Don't Sit Under the Coconut Tree With Anyone Else But Me
Tree burned down.
