#3600: Election Watch (HAITI) (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION  SYSTEMS (IFES)


Country: Republic of Haiti  Election Type: Parliamentary               
Date: May 21, 2000 (Round One)  June 25, 2000 (Round Two) 

At stake in this election: Seats in the Senate: 19   

Seats in the Chamber of Deputies: 83 

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Rene Garcia PREVAL 

Head of Government: Prime Minister Jacques Edouard ALEXIS 

Haiti's bicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) is    
composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. 

The Senate consists of 27 members. The Chamber of Deputies consists of
83 members. 
 
Description of electoral system: The president is elected by absolute
majority vote to a five-year term. All members of the Senate are elected
by absolute majority vote to six-year terms with one third elected every
two years. All members in the Chamber of Deputies are elected by
absolute majority vote to four-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral races: 

Party: Lavalas Family (OFL) Leader: Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE 

Party: Espace de Concertaction (EC) Leaders: Evans PAUL, C. ROUMAIN,
Serge GILLES and Victor BENOIT 

Party: MOCHRENA  Leader: Luc MESADIEU 

Party: Organization of People in Struggle (OPL)Leader: Gerard
PIERRE-CHARLES 

Party: Rassemblement des Democrat Nationalist Progressiste  (RDNP) 
Leader: Leslie Francois MANIGAT 

Party: Open the Gate Party (PLB) Leader: Renaud BERNARANIN 

 When was the last election? Number of seats in last election?

 Parliamentary elections last held: June 25, 1995, with reruns on     
August 13 and runoffs on September 17 
 On April 6, 1997, there were Senate elections for 9 seats but the    
results were disputed and runoffs were indefinitely postponed. 

Seats decided in the last election to the Senate: 9 

Seats decided in the last election to the Chamber of Deputies: 83 

Population and number of registered voters:
                                                             
Population: 6,884,264 (July 1999) (???)

Number of registered voters: 4,000,000 (April, 2000 est.)  Of interest:

 Popular organized protests broke out throughout Haiti in early     
February over a lack of voter materials. The electoral calendar in Haiti
was restructured several times with parliamentary elections originally
expected in November 1998. The  May 21, 2000 date was rescheduled from
March 19, 2000. 

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION  SYSTEMS (IFES)