11-8-05,8:01am
Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) had 43 parties and one independent presidential candidate draw “identification numbers” for their campaigns in a chaotic session at the Ritz Kinam II hotel in Pétionville on Oct. 31. The candidates and their representatives loudly protested and skirmished over how the CEP conducted the number lottery, a bad omen for how more complicated procedures like ballot distribution and vote counting will be received.
The numbers were drawn from a drum. Some of the results: former president René Préval’s “Hope Platform” drew number one, the neo-Duvalierist “Great Center Right Front” of arch-reactionary Hubert Deronceray number two, the “Union for Haiti” of former putschist prime minister Marc Bazin number three, the “Front for National Reconstruction” of ex-“rebel” leader Guy Philippe number seven, the “Democratic Alliance” of ex-Port-au-Prince mayor Evans Paul number 10, and the Progressive National Democratic Assembly (RNDP) of former Army-puppet-president Leslie Manigat number 13. Independent presidential hopeful Charles Henri Baker, a former leader of the “Group of 184' opposition front, was assigned number 44.
Doubts, delays, and disorganization still dog the elections which the illegal government and occupation forces are trying to hold. De facto Prime Minister Gérard Latortue reiterated last week that his government would step down on Feb. 7, 2006. “When we say that we will hold elections, we will hold them,” he declared on his Oct. 24 return from a donors conference in Brussels. “For those who think that the election will not take place, I am telling them once and for all, loudly and strongly, the elections will take place.”
Latortue’s regime announced a Commission to Guarantee the Elections last week. It will have 11 members: three from “civil society” (read bourgeoisie), three from the religious sector, and five representing political parties. Charged with watching for election problems, it will be assisted by the National Center for Election Observation.
A Citizenship Verification Commission, also illegally formed by the executive (which is not supposed to meddle in electoral affairs), is still collecting papers from candidates and has yet to issue its definitive electoral roster.
Meanwhile, Jean Dady Ostiné, alias Ti Kenley, was fatally shot in the throat by UN occupation troops in Petit Goâve on Oct. 26. According to a French police officer, a patrol of French UN policemen with a Haitian policeman encountered Ti Kenley on a motorcycle with two other men. When the policemen asked them to stop, Ti Kenley pulled out a 9 millimeter pistol and began shooting. The policemen returned fire, killing him. One of the other men was wounded in the foot.
Ti Kenley took part in anti-government demonstrations leading up to the Feb. 29, 2004 coup against President Aristide. Petit Goâve Police Chief Rosny Séméac called him a “notorious bandit” who had been actively sought by the police.
On Oct. 29, the Dessalinien Army of National Liberation (ADLN) put out a communique by Internet and leaflet claiming responsibility for an Oct. 19 midnight attack on the police headquarters in the northern town of Limbé, in which one policeman (a former soldier) was killed. According to radio press reports, the other policemen in the station escaped out a window. The guerillas captured one weapon and other materials. Over the past year, the ADLN, which claims to be fighting the coup and foreign military occupation, has attacked other police stations in the North in the towns like Gros Morne, Plaisance and Borgne.
