One topic that was largely covered in The Haitian Times, and Caribbean Life, both New York based Caribbean news sites, was the election of Haiti’s new president. The election began in 2015, but even after President Michel Martelly left office a successor had not been chosen. Jocelerme Privert, the former president of Haiti’s senate, acted as president during the interim. The election finally came to a conclusion on January 29th 2017. The new president, Jovenel Moise, was sworn into office on February 7th 2017. The election of a new president is a topic that received a lot of coverage as it has a huge impact on the people living in Haiti, and people that have moved away.

 

The election process took far longer than expected and voting days were continually pushed back. In November, the voter turnout was at only 21%. During the two-year election, there were many complaints regarding the voting process. People were prevented from voting, they were told they couldn’t vote twice when they hadn’t voted at all, they couldn’t get the electoral cards they needed to vote, some said that their names weren’t listed at their usual voting precinct, and others found that the polling centers had been relocated. Another issue was presented by the National Identification Office (ONI). They said that 2.4 million active and undistributed electoral cards had gone missing before the first election in 2015.

Aside from issues preventing those interested from voting, there were other reasons for the low turnout rates. The polls were believed to be unreliable, the candidates weren’t inspiring (according to some), and people suspected that the results would be falsified anyway. It’s also important to note that the percentage of voters that did show up was unusually low. In 2006 voter turnout was at 60%. In 2015, despite the 5.8 million people registered to vote, only 1.5 million votes were cast.

 

“I’m here to vote, and they are trying to stop me.”

“It’s a waste of my time to go stand in line for hours and get nothing in return. I have to make money.”

“If you vote in Haiti, you get betrayed. I cannot put my trust in these politicians.”

“All the politicians make a lot of promises when they try to win elections. But after they win, you never hear from them again.”

“We will never accept Jovenel! It is all being manipulated.”

“We’ve heard so many pledges from our presidents but here we are, still struggling.”

 

 

Despite any disinterest in the election, and the voting process, the new president will have a great impact on the people of Haiti. Some changes that they are hoping Moise will make include:

  • Improving hospital conditions
  • Improvement of schools
  • Revival of domestic production
  • Increasing foreign and local investments
  • Rebuilding the agricultural sector
  • Establishing national solidarity
  • Creating political stability

These issues will not be easy to fix, but one man said that, given the people’s typically low expectations of political leaders, “if he manages to deliver a modicum of change he may restore a sense of hope for the future”. Regarding the issues above and others, Moise has already proposed a few controversial ideas. People are concerned about his plan to revive the Haitian army, and his idea for launching agricultural free trade zones.

Even with the election finally over, there are still some problems to consider. Moise is part of an ongoing judicial investigation regarding a confidential report that was leaked during the campaign. Moise was a businessman before being chosen by former president Michel Martelly to run for president as a candidate for the Tet Kale party (PHTK). The investigation is regarding his former business and the possibility that he was laundering money and had received special treatment for loans before beginning his candidacy.  Moise has dismissed concerns about the investigation, blaming political rivals for trying to damage his reputation.

While the election has come to end, this topic is still important to people living in Haiti and to those in the diaspora. The actions and policies of the new president, Jovenel Moise, will affect the people living in Haiti, who are the friends and family of those in the diaspora. This is also an important issue because the complications of voting still need to be sorted out. When the next elections roll around, hopefully there will have been improvements in the accessibility of polling stations, availability of electoral cards and reduced amounts of voting fraud. These issues are not going to disappear, so it is important that the people are being updated on the actions of the new president, the process through which he was elected and how future elections may run.

Resources:

http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2015/11/2015-10-30-ap-haiti-election-cl.html?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=module&utm_source=similar&utm_content=intra

http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2015/12/2015-12-18-ap-haiti-election-cl01.html?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=module&utm_source=similar&utm_content=intra

http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2016/12/2016-12-02-ap-moise-wins-haiti-election-cl.html?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=module&utm_source=similar&utm_content=intra

http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2017/2/2017-02-17-ap-haiti-jovenel-moise-cl.html?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=module&utm_source=similar&utm_content=intra

haitiantimes.com/2017/02/16/lack-of-trust-in-haiti-electoral-system-overshadows-return-of-constituational-rule/