Eight presidential candidates denounce fraud in Haiti's general election

Eight presidential candidates in Haiti's October general election denounced what they perceived to be widespread electoral fraud Wednesday, according to reports from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

The candidates, from eight different political parties, demanded the creation of an independent investigation committee to precisely identify the cases of electoral fraud.

After elections held on Oct. 25, the results were meant to have been announced Tuesday, according to the electoral law, but authorities decided to suspend the announcement by two days.

The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced the delay so that it would have extra time to analyze the complaints from various political parties while the country's vote counting center was proceeding with a complete recount.

The eight candidates published a press release on Wednesday, explaining that they had all seen cases of fraud on election days, and that "if the votes are not checked," the results would be unacceptable.

To counter this situation, they demanded that the new investigation commission be set up by five members from credible sectors of society, including a member of the Haitian press, a human rights expert, a representative from women's rights movements, an academic and a member of the Catholic clergy.

Their proposal would see the committee access all voting centers, the counting center and any other place deemed appropriate so that it may "clean up the voting process by analyzing the partial electoral lists, counting sheets, minutes of meetings, and complaints to detect cases of fraud," the press release said.

The committee would also have fifteen days to complete its work before identifying and excluding those who have carried out fraud from playing any part in the electoral process.

One of the candidates, Charles Henry Baker, said Tuesday that the results to be published Thursday would not reflect the choice of the Haitian people.

The result would, in any case, appoint a new president to replace incumbent President Michel Martelly, since the Haitian Constitution prevents any president from serving consecutive terms.

By Wednesday, 97.84 percent of votes had been counted, according to the CEP.

Haiti has been trying to overcome a prolonged political crisis since the resignation of its former prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, in December 2014 for personal reasons. His resignation delayed the general election while a new coalition government was formed. Endi