27771: (news) Chamberlain: Preval says he won Haitian election, charges fraud (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva and Michael Christie

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Former President Rene Preval
said on Tuesday he won last week's election outright and urged Haitian
officials to hold off publishing final results because of massive fraud.
     "We are sure of having won in the first round," Preval said in his
first significant comments on the election results in the week since the
vote.
     "We are convinced there was massive fraud and gross errors that
affected the process," he said.
     Preval, a one-time ally of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
whose main support comes from Haiti's slums, said his campaign had evidence
of poll irregularities and "perhaps a massive fraud."
     "If they publish these results as they are, we will contest them and
if Lespwa (his political movement) contests them, the Haitian people will
contest them," Preval said at a news conference a day after tens of
thousands of his supporters paralyzed the capital with flaming barricades
and street protests, demanding he be declared the victor.
      Preval had 48.7 percent at last report. He won the first round easily
but his supporters and some elections officials said the count was being
manipulated to prevent him from taking office without a run-off. He needed
50 percent plus one vote for an outright win.
     The Haitian capital was more peaceful early Tuesday. Some roads were
still blocked by rocks, tree branches and other debris but traffic was
moving.
     Preval called on his supporters to take down the barricades to allow
people to get to work and school. He said: "Continue to protest, but
respect the rights of others."
     Haiti's interim government on Monday evening pleaded with Haitians to
stay calm as election officials counted the last 10 percent of ballots. The
government was appointed after Aristide fled the impoverished Caribbean
nation in the face of an armed rebellion and under intense international
pressure to quit,
     "The people elected Preval. I respect their will," Dany Toussaint, a
presidential candidate who won about 7,000 of more than 2 million votes
cast, said on local radio. "I recognize they did not vote for me."
     Other presidential candidates also conceded Preval had won, including
Chavannes Jeune, who is running fourth, former Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans
Paul, who won just over 2 percent of the vote, and ex-Prime Minister Marc
Bazin, who took under 1 percent.
     "A runoff ... would not solve anything," Paul said. "Let us look for
balance in parliament and forget about the second round. That will be proof
of political intelligence."
      Another ex-president, Leslie Manigat, had 11.8 and industrialist
Charles Baker, seen as the candidate of the wealthy elite, had 7.9 percent.
     Monday's demonstrations were largely peaceful, but witnesses said
Jordanian U.N. troops -- part of a peacekeeping force providing security in
Haiti -- killed two people when they opened fire in Tabarre, just north of
the capital.
     The United Nations denied the accusation, saying the soldiers had
fired warning shots in the air.
     In a nationally televised address late on Monday, interim Prime
Minister Gerard Latortue asked for patience and assured voters they would
get an honest vote count.
     "No vote will be stolen," Latortue said. "We ask everyone to go back
home, to stay calm and the results will be published."
     Security was strengthened at the luxury Montana hotel in the hills
overlooking Port-au-Prince, where elections officials had been releasing
partial vote counts and holding news conferences.
     Preval supporters had invaded the upscale resort on Monday, demanding
a final vote count and chanting "Preval is president!" On Tuesday, a white
U.N. armored personnel carrier was stationed at the bottom of the winding
road leading to the hotel and military police guarded the entry.
     Haiti's short democratic history has been plagued by violence.
Aristide, a former priest who is a champion of Haiti's poor, was sent into
exile in each of his two terms in office.