Haiti postpones presidential elections over security concerns

Haiti's electoral authority on Friday postponed presidential elections slated for Sunday citing security reasons.

The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) said serious incidents in the past hours in five Haitian departments, including attacks on at least two polling stations, led it to take this decision.

"Due to the deteriorating security situation and the threats to the electoral process, the CEP has suspended the election set for January 24," it said in a press release.

Local media reported the move came after opposition candidate Jude Celestin boycotted the vote and refused to commit to a new date, alleging electoral fraud.

A crowd of over 1,000 people marched through central Port-au-Prince and outside the U.S. embassy, calling for the elections to be suspended, according to the Haiti Libre newspaper.

Since the first round of presidential elections in October, during which Celestin finished second in a field of 54 candidates against ruling party candidate, Jovenel Moise, Celestin has claimed that the government of President Michel Martelly is manipulating results in favor of its candidate. Enditem