27539: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By ANDREW SELSKY

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 7 (AP) -- In the pre-dawn darkness, people trekked
from tin shacks in slums or crumbling brick homes to vote at polling
stations that would not open for hours. Some walked for miles. Thousands
waited in long lines that snaked for hundreds of yards.
   Haitians voted Tuesday in the country's first elections in nearly six
years as if their country depended on it. Many both inside and outside
Haiti believe it does.
   Election workers were initially overwhelmed by the huge turnout in the
impoverished Caribbean nation. But the voting hours were quickly extended.
U.N. peacekeeping troops deployed in force to calm crowds. Even after night
fell, hundreds of voters were still waiting in line.
   "I hope I get the chance to vote. I want to participate in changing the
country," said Crystal Jean-Pierre as she waited in line at a polling
station outside Cite Soleil, a huge slum in the capital. Inside the polling
station, which had no electricity, people filled out ballots by
candlelight.
   Polls closed nearly four hours later than scheduled.
   The stakes are huge, experts say. Haiti, which has seen only one
president, Rene Preval, complete his term in office, could implode if the
elections go wrong.
   Preval, a leading presidential candidate, said the large turnout showed
that "people are investing everything in this election."
   Preval, in an interview with The Associated Press in his northern
village of Marmelade, said if he wins, Haitians must recognize their
country is in dire straits and should not set their expectations too high.
   "We will not be able to do everything right away," he said. "But we are
determined to do our best and raise the standard of living for the people
of Haiti."
   Among 33 other presidential candidates are a factory owner whose slogan
is "Order, Discipline, Work," and another former president ousted in a
coup.
   In the aftermath of a February 2004 rebellion that toppled President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, gangs have gone on a kidnapping spree. The
country's few factories are closing because of security problems and a lack
of foreign investment. The country's infrastructure is a wreck.
   Acting U.S. Ambassador Timothy Carney applauded Haitians for stepping up
to determine their future.
   "Today was a triumph for the Haitian people," he said. "It was a ragged
start. The Haitian people turned out in force, clearly believing security
was in place. They made it work. They waited in line patiently."
   U.S. officials have warned that a collapse could trigger another wave of
Haitians migrating aboard boats to the United States. That occurred in
1994, prompting Washington to send troops to Haiti to restore Aristide to
power, three years after he fell to a military coup.
   At dawn, when the 800 polling stations were supposed to open, it
immediately became apparent the day would not go smoothly. In the upscale
Petionville suburb of the capital, people in a crowd of thousands stormed a
voting station. Several women fainted.
   Across town, near the gang-controlled Cite Soleil slum, frustrated
voters pounded on empty ballot boxes and chanted: "It's time for Cite
Soleil to vote!" The polls opened at the site hours later.
   By mid-afternoon, the process appeared more orderly. U.N. troops
deployed in force to calm crowds.
   Election authorities said the problems were largely limited to
Port-au-Prince. By early afternoon, all polls across this country of 8.3
million were open, said U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst.
   "The people have voted massively," said Juan Gabriel Valdes, a U.N.
special envoy. Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the Organization
of American States, said a majority of registered voters cast ballots,
though specific figures were not yet available.
   But the voting in one rural town was marred by violence.
   In the northern town of Gros Morne, a Haitian policeman shot and killed
a man in line at a polling station, Wimhurst said. A mob then killed the
police officer, he said. There were two other reported deaths in polling
stations in the capital -- two elderly men who collapsed while waiting in
line.
   In the capital, some men angrily roamed the streets, fuming at being
turned away from the polls because their names were not on the voter rolls.
   "If these elections are not fair and if the person whom the population
wants doesn't win, houses will burn and heads will be cut off," said Jean
Pierre, an unemployed 33-year-old man.
   His words recalled the battle cry of Haitian army Gen. Jean-Jacques
Dessalines, who led a bloody rebellion against French troops and colonists
in 1802: "Cut off their heads and burn their houses."
   Besides Preval, other top contenders among the 33 presidential
candidates are Charles Henri Baker, 50, whose family runs factories that
assemble clothing for export, and Leslie Manigat, 75, who was president for
five months in 1988 until the army ousted him.
   Also running are a former rebel in the insurgency that forced Aristide
from office in February 2004 and a former army officer accused in the death
of a Haitian journalist. If no candidate wins a majority, a March 19 runoff
would be held between the top two candidates.
   ----
   Associated Press writers Joseph B. Frazier in Marmelade, and Stevenson
Jacobs and Michael Norton in Port-au-Prince, contributed to this report.