#4379: Lyall - More comments on the elections (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: J. David Lyall <david@lyalls.net>

>From:HYSEKA@aol.com
>
>I think it's an interesting question. However, the answer is not in 
>legalities. It is rather a political issue.
>
>We all know what the precedent is here: that in 1990, 1995 and 1997, 
the 
>procedure used now was not challenged by anyone.

I don't know what you have been paying attention to for the past
three years, but the 1997 elections, and the method of calculating
a winning percentage, were indeed challenged.

The challenge resulted in 2 years of political paralysis, with
the "Lavalas Political Organization" objecting to the declaration
of winners without an "absolute" majority.

Then the term  of the parliament expired, without any business being
conducted in the meantime, due to deadlock over that very 1997
election. Hey, I'm a foriegner, only visited Haiti 4 times and I know 
this.

Last years establishment of yet another "interim" electoral council,
and a period of political peace was possible because an official
finding on those elections was finally published, which said that
the counting procedure was not in accord with the electoral law.
 
>The problem it seems to me, is that Lavalas won such an overwhelming 
>majority, the International Community was once again taken by surprise. 
Added 
>to this fact, is all the noise that the opposition has been making 
about the 
>Lavalas movement having hijacked the process and stolen votes.

Not three months ago it was Haiti Progress and the street gangs 
(protected by the police)
which was screaming that Haiti didn't need elections, that the whole 
plot
to force elections on Haiti was an "electoral coup d'etat". 

Funny how the coining of that phrase has now turned around.

Elections were only agreed upon after Titid gave a speech in....
wait....Florida. In that speech the former president called for the
elections to go forward.
****
The International community, it seems to me, was relieved to find
that voting day went off fairly well. 

My reading is that even Madeleine "the butcher" Albright is deferring
to Aristide and ( was ) ready to work with him and the crew in 2001.
Why do they want to throw that away now?