28322: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Elections (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 21 (AP) -- Haitians prepared to select their first
parliament in more than two years Friday, amid fears of low turnout for the
final step in restoring democracy since a 2004 revolt threw the country
into chaos.
   The runoff race for 127 parliament seats features several hundred
candidates from more than a dozen parties, ranging from members of ousted
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's center-left Lavalas party to former
rebels who helped unseat him from power.
   Observers say a large turnout would boost President-elect Rene Preval's
legislative agenda to rebuild the impoverished Caribbean nation, which has
been battered by gang violence, the closure of many textile factories and
high unemployment.
   Preval's Lespwa party is likely to capture the largest number of seats,
but will probably fall short of a majority and will have to forge a
coalition government, observers say.
   Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has not had a
functioning parliament since 2003, and a huge amount of work will be needed
after it is installed, said Dan Erikson, a Haiti expert with the
Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.
   "There's no staff. There's very little in the way of physical
facilities. This is basically starting from scratch," he said.
   Preval, who has pledged to restore security and attract jobs after he
takes power next month, has urged citizens to vote amid fears of a low
turnout. But the 63-year-old former president, who shares Aristide's wide
support among Haiti's poor masses, has done little campaigning for
candidates of Lespwa, which means "hope" in Creole.
   "We need a high level of participation so this election will be
considered legitimate," said Max Mathurin, president of Haiti's Provisional
Electoral Council.
   Under Haiti's constitution, the party or coalition with the most
parliamentary seats gets to choose the prime minister, who acts as head of
government and appoints Cabinet members and most administrative posts.
   Parliament also must ratify all foreign loans, making it vital to
Haiti's dealings with the international community.
   "If you expect Haiti to have any kind of democracy in the future,
congress has to play a major role," Erikson said.
   Some 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers and 3,000 Haitian police will fan out
across the country to prevent election day violence. Officials have deemed
37 areas high security risks and will deploy rapid-response teams to put
down any disturbances, U.N. spokesman Damian Onses-Cardona said.
   Only two candidates won seats in the Feb. 7 first round of elections,
which were hampered by late poll openings, delays in distributing ballots
and a shortage of election workers needed to handle the crush of voters who
jammed polling stations at dawn. Seats for 97 deputies and 30 senators are
open in Friday's election.
   Officials said they have added 3,000 election workers and improved
training to ensure the vote goes smoothly.
   "There were problems in the first round but we've learned a lot of
lessons," Onses-Cardona said. "We can expect a good day tomorrow."
   Still, some Haitians said they were not planning to vote, citing the
problems in the first round. "The last time I voted I had to wait too long
and people were pushing and shoving. I'm too old for that," said
69-year-old Germine Exavier.