5936: President asks Haitians to vote (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: nozier@tradewind.net

President asks Haitians to vote 
THE TIMES OF INDIA__SATURDAY,NOVEMBER 25 2000
                                                                
PORT-AU-PRINCE: President Rene Preval has urged Haitians to go to the
polls Sunday in spite of a series of bomb attacks in the last 48 hours
which  killed two and injured 16 in the Haitian capital.
 "Enemies of democracy" were responsible for the violence, Preval said
Thursday. "The enemy has panicked and brought out the death
card," he said. In a nationally broadcast statement, he cited several 
bloody disruptions of Haitian elections in the last 13 years, such as
the September 30, 1991, military coup d'etat. "The road to deliverance
has some thorns, but deliverance is close, turn out on November 26, hold
  firm," the leader concluded. Police announced an extensive security
plan for the weekend, including banning of motorbikes from the
  streets on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday's presidential and senatorial
elections, being boycotted by Haiti's opposition, notably will decide a
successor to Preval, whose five-year term ends on February 7, 2001.
Former president Jean Bertrand Aristide (1991-1996)is likely to emerge a
clear victor. (AFP)