#208: Election regulations made legal in state gazette (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

Election regulations made legal in state gazette
July 20, 1999 Web posted at: 6:49 PM EDT (2249 GMT) 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Clearing the way for new elections that
might resolve a crippling two-year crisis, Haiti's election bylaws
became  official Tuesday with their publication in the state gazette. 
President Rene Preval and the nine-member provisional electoral council
had signed the bylaws on Friday. The 200-article document lays out how
local and legislative elections will be  organized and supervised in
November and December. By providing for the election of 19 senators, the
bylaws nullify the results of controversial 1997 elections that were at
the root of the power struggle that has paralyzed Haiti since Premier
Rosny Smarth resigned in June 1997.  Smarth's party accused Preval of
complicity in rigging the elections to favor the party of the
president's mentor, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Two
Aristide candidates won senate seats in those elections. The entire
83-seat lower house, 19 seats of the 27-seat upper house, 133      
mayoral posts, and hundreds of local consultative assemblies will be   
contested. With the bylaws, "We've moved ahead, but we've still got a
long way to go to the ballot box and getting the voter to vote,"
socialist party spokesman Mischa Gaillard told The Associated Press.   
The international community had been waiting on the bylaws before    
committing money to help the electoral process.  Most political parties
have boycotted Haiti's electoral process since chaotic elections in June
1995. Most -- including Aristide's and Smarth's -- have indicated they
will participate in the elections, if security guarantees are
                  given.