- On November 28, Haiti's first round legislative and presidential
elections were so tainted, they elevated sham elections to a new level
- a cruel joke, a process in name only, one fraudulent enough to make a
despot blush. Now round two, New York Times writer Deborah Sontag headlining,
"Candidates Face Runoff in Haiti's Troubled Vote," saying:
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- On December 7, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council
(CEP) announced "that Mirlande Manigat, a former Haitian first lady,
and Jude Celestin, (Preval's man), had won the first round of voting."
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- Correction: stole the first round. Neither candidate
was the people's choice. For them, none of the above ranked first, followed
by Jean-Henry Ceant, a Haitian businessman, community leader and philanthropist.
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- He campaigned on Aristide's slogan: "All people
are people/Everyone is equal (tou moun se moun)." Like so many previous
times, it may have been campaign hyperbole. Now eliminated, we'll never
know. What is clear is that Haitians again were defrauded, an old story
they never accept.
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- In a mid-November interview, Aristide's spokeswoman Maryse
Narcisse said:
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- Fanmi Lavalas supporters (the vast majority) "are
not participating in an illegal election. The November 28 elections are
not elections. It's a selection process. What we're doing now is mobilizing
people, sensitizing people against the selection. With this selection process,
we are not going anywhere. We are moving towards instability that will
last for many years."
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- America controls everything in Haiti, orchestrating coup
d'etat rule. Its iron fist is always ready to prevent democratic elections
for populist governance, an anathema notion Washington rejects everywhere,
including at home.
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- Sontag described a "long, tense day," then
the 9PM electoral results announcement, followed by "rock-throwing,
tire-burning and shooting in several urban neighborhoods and outside (Port-au-Prince).
Toward midnight, smoke curled into the sky....protesters' chants and drums
filled the air."
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- The US Embassy issued a boilerplate statement, saying:
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- "The United States, together with Haiti's international
community partners, stands ready to support efforts to thoroughly review
irregularities in support of electoral results that are consistent with
the will of the Haitian people expressed in their votes."
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- In fact, Washington and its puppet Preval orchestrated
the fraud, banned 15 parties, including by far the most popular - Aristide's
Fanmi Lavalas that easily would have won overwhelmingly. As a result, the
process was shamelessly tainted, an election in name only.
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- Voter disenfranchisement was widespread. Polls opened
late and closed early. Ballot box stuffing was rampant. Voters faced intimidation
and violence, and the electoral lineup had no legitimacy, excluding peoples'
choice candidates, except for perhaps Ceant.
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- On December 8, Al Jazeera headlined, "Haiti set
for election run-off," saying:
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- "According to (CEP's announced) results, Manigiat
won 31 per cent of the vote and Celestin 22 per cent."
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- Protests and sporadic gunfire erupted. "Much of
the concern centered around conflicts between the announced results and
those reported (earlier) by the National Observation Council, a local election
monitoring group financed by the European Union, which said that Celestin
would be eliminated."
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- Haitians despise him. In a free and fair process, he'd
have gotten well below 10%, not the announced 22%, possible only by widespread
ballot box stuffing. As a result, daily street protests followed the November
vote. Thousands of Haitians clashed with police, denouncing the sham process,
demanding new elections, yelling "Arrest Preval," and accusing
him and Celestin of electoral theft.
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- On December 20, final results will be announced. A presidential
runoff is provisionally scheduled on January 16, confirmation awaiting
CEP word.
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- A Final Comment
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- Following CEP's announced results, a US embassy press
release said the following:
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- "As Haiti enters the period of electoral contestation,
it is essential that all political actors remain calm and encourage their
supporters to do the same....Haiti's transition to democracy over the past
24 years has seen many successes, overcoming major challenges. The 2010
elections represent a critical test of whether the Haitian people will
determine their destiny through their vote. The United States is committed
to the consolidation of democracy in Haiti and calls on the Government
of Haiti, the CEP and all political forces to ensure that the will of the
people is fully reflected in the outcome of this election."
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- The statement is self-explanatory, an imperial master's
words to its subjects, establishing despotism masquerading as "democracy."
As a result, Haitians get theater, not real elections, imperial rule, not
of, by and for the people, hardline take-it-or-leave it tyranny. Its master's
voice has spoken. It remains now how they'll react longer term for government
representing them, no longer for wealth and power.
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- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached atlendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour
on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
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- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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