28078: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 6 (AP) -- A top election official who fled the
country under threat has returned to help organize a legislative runoff
needed to form a new government, Haiti's electoral council said Monday.
   Jacques Bernard, director-general of the embattled electoral council,
arrived in the capital of Port-au-Prince on Sunday to resume his duties,
two weeks after he left for the United States, the council's
secretary-general, Rosemand Pradel, told reporters.
   Bernard fled after opponents ransacked his farm and diplomats warned
that gang members planned to ambush his car as he left the vote tabulation
center.
   The threats came amid complaints about the tabulation of results from
the Feb. 7 elections won by President-elect Rene Preval, a former
president.
   Bernard will help prepare for a legislative runoff that had been
scheduled for March 19 until officials said it would be delayed because of
street protests that have slowed planning. Officials will announce a new
election date shortly, Pradel said.
   The delay means Preval's scheduled March 29 inauguration will also be
postponed since he cannot take power without a sitting parliament.