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27789: Craig (news) BBC: Haiti orders poll 'fraud' inquiry (fwd)
From: Dan Craig
Haiti orders poll 'fraud' inquiry
Haiti's interim government has ordered an inquiry into allegations of fraud
during last week's presidential vote.
Election front-runner Rene Preval said "massive fraud" had probably denied him
an outright victory in the first round.
He warned Haitians would stage more street protests if partial poll results -
which point to the need for a second round - were published as final.
The government has meanwhile banned the publication of full results until the
inquiry into alleged fraud is complete.
Footage broadcast on a local television station on Tuesday night appeared to
show hundreds of charred ballots at a garbage dump in the capital,
Port-au-Prince.
Many of the ballots appeared to be marked in favour of Mr Preval, prompting
protests from his supporters at the scene.
Crowds later marched through the streets of the city, chanting Mr Preval's name
and decrying the alleged fraud.
An electoral official told Reuters news agency there would be an investigation
into the "unacceptable" apparent dumping of ballots.
According to a UN spokesman, the ballots could have come from any of nine
polling stations ransacked on election day.
Spokesman David Wimhurst said the ballots may have been placed at the dump to
suggest fraud had taken place, the Associated Press news agency reports.
The leader of the Organization of American States is due to visit Haiti on
Wednesday to try to calm tensions.
Jose Miguel Insulza is expected to meet political leaders and members of the
electoral commission.
Street protests
Mr Preval used to be an ally of ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
and has inherited his following among the poor.
He insists he has won the vote but partial results suggest he is just short of
the 50% needed to be elected outright.
His supporters allege the vote has been rigged by the Haitian elite, which is
suspicious of Mr Preval's links to Mr Aristide.
"We are convinced that either massive fraud or gross errors stain the
[electoral] process," Mr Preval said on Tuesday, in his first public comments
since the protests began.
He urged his supporters to continue demonstrating "but in respect of the rights
of others".
"If they publish the results as they are now," Mr Preval said, "we will oppose
them, the Haitian people will also oppose them, and there will be protests."
Following his comments, the government announced it would hold an inquiry into
the fraud allegations.
The interim president's chief of staff is quoted as saying he expects the
investigation, which will include members of the government, electoral
commission and Mr Preval's party, to release its findings within three days.
"The government will play the role of referee in this commission," Michel
Brunach told the AFP news agency.
Haiti - the poorest country in the continent - is choosing a 129-member
parliament as well as a new president.
Burning tyres
BBC Americas analyst Simon Watts, reporting from Miami, says the Haitian
authorities seem to be damned whatever they do.
He says they risk sparking more unrest if they conclude Mr Preval is short of a
majority - but declaring him an outright winner could look like a fix.
On Tuesday, barricades of burning tyres and branches remained on roads in
Port-au-Prince, and many international flights to and from the capital stayed
suspended.
Supporters of Mr Preval accused UN peacekeepers on Monday of firing into a
crowd, killing at least one person - a charge the UN denied.
The UN Security Council has renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping force in
Haiti for at least another six months.
The 9,500-strong mission, established in 2004 after President Aristide was
forced out of power, is under Brazilian command.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4713802.stm
Published: 2006/02/15 06:43:43 GMT
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