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1st LD Writethru: Haiti postpones presidential elections over security concerns

Xinhua, January 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

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 the 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 citing electoral fraud.

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 to ruling party candidate, Jovenel Moise, Celestin has claimed that the government of President Michel Martelly is manipulating results in favor of its candidate.

Haiti has been mired in a deep political crisis since last year, which forced Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe to resign and left Parliament in limbo after parliamentary elections were delayed.

Friday's protesters also demanded the resignation of the CEP and the government as well as the creation of a transition government.

The CEP denounced fires set at CEP regional offices in the northern department of Limbe and the central department of Lascahobas, as well as attempted fires in Thomonde, Torbeck, Artibonite, Grand Goave and Port-au-Prince.

Furthermore, a polling station in the eastern department of Savanette was set on fire and armed men stole electoral materials in Fond-Parisien.

"In order to protect the life of voters, electoral officials and state property, especially schools, the CEP has taken the decision (to postpone the election)," read its press release.

The CEP announcement came hours after the UN Mission in Haiti (Minustah) and the international community restated their support for an "inclusive and fair" electoral process, which "guarantees the democratic renewal of state institutions."

The Minustah, the United States, France, Canada, Brazil, the European Union, and the Organization of American States have all deplored recent acts of violence during the electoral process and have asked all sides to allow the Haitian people to vote without coercion or violence.

Haiti, a country of 10 million that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, held the first round of legislative elections on Aug. 9, followed by the first round of presidential elections and second round of legislative polls on Oct. 25. Endit