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#3106: Worried by Haiti killing, US urges prompt election (fwd)
From:nozier@tradewind.net
WIRE:04/03/2000 17:31:00 ET
Worried by Haiti killing, US urges prompt election
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Haiti to set a date
for parliamentary elections after political tensions in the Caribbean
nation hit a peak on Monday with the killing of a prominent journalist
and democracy advocate. "We believe that credible elections can be held
in April and May, in time to convene the new parliament by the second
Monday of June, consistent with Haitian constitutional law," State
Department spokesman James Rubin told a news briefing. Legislative
elections have been postponed three times and President Rene Preval
has refused to ratify a new date chosen by the Provisional Electoral
Council,saying the announcement of the date was invalid. Former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, associated along with the prime
minister and Preval with the same political party, is expected to run
for and win the presidency in another election scheduled for the end
of 2000. Opponents of the government believe it is delaying
the legislative election so as to hold it at the same time as the
presidential ballot and help the Lavalas Family Party win seats on
Aristide's coat tails. But Rubin urged the government to set a date for
the ballot, warning: "Significant further delays would undermine the
credibility of the electoral process and greatly put at risk the
current momentum towards holding the election soon." Preval dissolved
parliament in January 1999 to end an 18-month political stalemate and
installed a new prime minister and cabinet. He has ruled by decree
ever since. The shooting early on Monday of Jean Leopold Dominique,
69, owner and director of Radio Haiti Inter and special advisor to
Preval, came amid rising tensions and almost daily street
demonstrations protesting the failure to hold elections. Dominique,
one of Haiti's best known journalists, was shot several times in the
head and chest as he arrived for work at the station on a busy street
in the capital, Port-au-Prince.A security guard working at the
station, Jean-Claude Louissaint, was also shot several times and died of
a bullet wound to the neck. The motive for the shooting was not
immediately known. Former Culture Minister Jean-Claude Bajeux, a
human rights advocate, called it an "assassination". Dominique's
brother was killed under the dictatorial regime of President
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
Calling on the Haitian government to ensure a thorough and prompt
investigation, Rubin said: "There have been a number of reported
threats against opposition candidates." He added: "Failure to
constitute promptly a legitimate parliament will risk isolating Haiti
from the community of democracies and jeopardize future cooperation and
assistance." The United States sent 20,000 troops as part of an
international invasion force to restore former Aristide to power in
1994 and has been Haiti's largest donor since 1973.