26605: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti sets Dec. 27 election date (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Haiti will hold long-awaited
presidential and legislative elections on Dec. 27, an official said on
Thursday.
     Haiti's constitution requires the inauguration of a new president by
Feb. 7, 2006, to replace Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was driven from office
on Feb. 29, 2004 by a bloody rebellion and international pressure.
     Struggling with the logistics of holding an election in the
impoverished Caribbean nation of 8.5 million, authorities have postponed
voting for national and local offices several times.
     "The electoral council has set the first round for Dec. 27 and the
runoff for Jan. 31, 2006, and the president has no objections," said Michel
Brunache, chief of staff for interim President Boniface Alexandre.
     "And so ... those dates are final and the president will formally
announce it later today."
     A Haitian council of elders appointed an interim government to lead
the country to new elections in time to inaugurate a president and meet the
constitutional deadline.