26898: Lemieux: Embassy: Haiti Election Observers Chosen, But Will There Be An Election? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Embassy, December 14th, 2005

By Christina Leadlay
Haiti Election Observers Chosen, But Will There
Be An Election?


Canada is preparing to send 130 experts to
observe the elections in Haiti, slated for Jan.
8, but critics worry that Haiti is not ready, and
the vote will be delayed once again.
The Canadian development agency is expected to
announce this week the names of 130 Canadians
selected to be election observers in Haiti, but
critics wonder whether the election will go
forward next month as planned.

Presidential elections in Haiti have been delayed
over five times since the democratically elected
president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was removed from
office in February 2004. The interim government
has blamed election delays on technical problems.


Carlo Dade, Senior Advisor at the Ottawa-based
Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL),
says that it's impossible to tell if Haiti is
ready for these elections. "Up to recently, a lot
of the delays in the elections could be traced to
simple incompetence at the Provisional Electoral
Council (CEP)," explains Mr. Dade. He says there
is widespread disrespect of the council in charge
of compiling a list of candidates, setting up
polling stations and distributing national
identity cards.

"They missed deadlines, they had no sense of
urgency about the elections, they were overly
concerned with making sure that the elections had
a Haitian stamp on them, as opposed to the OAS
(Organization of American States) or the UN which
were providing technical assistance," he says.

"We really don't know [if Haiti is ready for
elections]. It's pretty much impossible to tell,"
says Mr. Dade, who has served for five years in
the country with the U.S. government.

The most recent date set for Haitians to cast
their ballots is Jan. 8, 2006. CANADEM, a
non-profit agency dedicated to democracy and
human rights, and Canada Corps, a program of the
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA),
are managing the Canadian contingent of
observers. The group is expected to leave no
later than Jan. 3 and return Jan. 11, according
to Neil Burron, Director of Elections at CANADEM.


CIDA spokesperson Eleonora Karabatic confirms
that the list has not yet been finalized.

Of the Canadian government's $29.5 million
commitment toward the electoral process in Haiti,
"$2 million will go to Canada Corps to fund the
deployment of up to 300 Canadian short-term
observers (up to 150 observers for each round).
Another $2 million will be provided to Elections
Canada to oversee the short-term observers on the
ground," says Ms. Karabatic.

The Haiti mission is relatively large in number,
but last December's 469-strong team sent to
Ukraine to observe the repeat presidential ballot
has been Canada's largest deployment.

"I suppose the country dynamics are different
than some other countries in the sense that Haiti
is a bit unstable," says Mr. Burron, "but in
terms of the criteria that we're looking for,
it's very similar to any other observation
mission. We're always looking for people with
elections experience and country experience."

Volunteers must meet basic requirements such as
holding a valid Canadian passport, agreeing to
remain neutral and enjoying good health. Each
deployment also has is a unique list of
'preferred criteria,' that ranges from previous
election experience in a post-conflict
environment, to proficiency in French or Creole,
Haiti's two main languages.

While Canadians of Haitian background are
considered, Mr. Burron notes that applicants are
carefully screened to ensure neutrality. "We
consider Haitian-Canadians, but they are not
given preference and we do have to be careful
about making sure there are no [political]
affiliations," he says.

Mr. Dade says that CANADEM has learned to recruit
from beyond the cultural diaspora, which he says
they relied too heavily upon for volunteers
during last year's mission to Ukraine. "They've
learned from mistakes in the Ukraine observation
mission, so they are looking for Canadian
professionals that have served abroad to go down
as opposed to going heavily after the diaspora,"
says Mr. Dade.

CANADEM has a roster of 7,000 experts it's able
to draw from for these types of missions,
explains Mr. Burron. "It's a roster of Canadian
experts in different areas of international
affairs, such as human rights, democratization,
elections, peacebuilding, police security --a
whole gamut of international activities," he
says. Registrants come from a variety of
backgrounds, some academic, but mostly with
practical experiences such as lawyers, engineers,
politicians and those with UN or international
organization expertise. "It's open to any
Canadian," says Mr. Burron.

"There is a lot of concern about the election
being postponed," concedes Mr. Burron, who will
be in Haiti for one month coordinating the
mission on the ground. "A lot of people are
saying that January isn't a realistic date, so
there are some expectations that is might be
further postponed. It has been postponed several
times already. Originally it was supposed to be
in November ," he says. Mr. Burron explains that
is the elections are indeed delayed, then the
observer team has to completely reorganize
itself.

"We [will] just have to go back to the drawing
board and start the logistical process over
again," says Mr. Burron, noting that everything
from the CIDA-organized briefing session to
airline tickets to official government
accreditation will have to be redone in the event
that the team does not head to Haiti on Jan. 3.

Both Mr. Burron and Ms. Karabatic point out that
Elections Canada is working as part of the
steering committee of the International
Monitoring Mission to the Haitian Elections
(IMMHE), which includes representatives from
Chile, Panama, Brazil, Mexico and the United
States. Of these countries, Canada is sending the
most observers, though a contingent of 20 is
expected from the CARICOM group of countries, as
is an American team, says Mr. Burron.

christina@embassymag.ca

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