27523: Craig (news) Turnout for Haitian elections is high, UN mission says (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig


Turnout for Haitian elections is high, UN mission says

UN News Centre


7 February 2006 – As Haitians turned out in large numbers to vote in national 
elections in the Caribbean country today, the senior United Nations envoy there 
visited voting centres in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

UN Special Representative Juan Gabriel Valdés was scheduled to stop at Lycée de 
Pétion-Ville in Place St. Pierre, Lycée Fort Nationale in Bel Air and at the 
Hôpital de la Paix, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti 
(MINUSTAH).

A few technical glitches caused some delays, but MINUSTAH worked to correct 
them and the first nationwide voting since an insurgency forced elected 
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile two years ago was proceeding 
without serious incident, the mission said.

At UN Headquarters, the Security Council heard a closed-door update from senior 
UN Secretariat officials. It was the first in what is expected to be a daily 
briefing on hotspots, instituted by the Council president for February, United 
States Ambassador John Bolton.

He told journalists afterwards that Assistant Secretary-General Hédi Annabi had 
briefed the 15 Council members on such matters as Haiti’s polling stations, 
security, contingency plans and protection of the votes cast. The briefings 
would not be decision-making meetings, he added.

Meanwhile, in a report to the Council on the mission released today, 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan underscored the need for the incoming leadership 
to show strong commitment to reconciliation and inclusion.

He also recommended that MINUSTAH be continued in its present configuration for 
another six months while a post-electoral mission strategy is worked out.

Newly elected Haitian officials will inherit weak State and local institutions, 
suffering from both a lack of trained personnel and insufficient administrative 
infrastructure, the report noted, pointing to the need for ongoing support from 
MINUSTAH and the international community.

“The installation of an elected Government will usher in a new phase in Haiti’s 
transition to a stable democracy,” Mr. Annan said, adding: “Haiti’s political 
and institutional progress will require sustained commitment to promoting key 
democratic values, including promoting national dialogue; respect for the 
independence of the judiciary and an impartial, professional civil service and 
police; and full commitment to human rights.”

Some immediate improvement in social and economic conditions could make a 
crucial contribution to stability, the Secretary-General stressed, voicing hope 
that the fruits of multilateral cooperation would become clearly visible in the 
coming months, and would be supplemented by targeted aid for such basic needs 
as health and education, agriculture and job creation.

Mr. Annan noted that the mission was estimated to cost more than $43 million 
per month up to next June and the unpaid assessed contributions to MINUSTAH’s 
Special Account now amounted to just over $135 million.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17425&Cr=haiti&Cr1=#