PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haiti’s presidential election will go to a second round run-off between former first lady Mirlande Manigat and government technocrat Jude Celestin, a protege of outgoing President Rene Preval, electoral authorities said yesterday.
The Provisional Electoral Council announced the run-off between the top two vote winners after no candidate gained more than the 50 percent required to win in the first round of the presidential and legislative elections held on Nov. 28.
Manigat garnered 31.37 percent of the first round votes ahead of Celestin with 22.48 percent, according to preliminary official results read to reporters in Port-au-Prince by Provisional Electoral Council spokesman Richard Dumel Thibault.
Popular musician Michel Martelly, who had warned of street protests by his supporters if the results did not put him among the top two, finished third, narrowly behind Celestin with 21.84 percent of the first round votes.
The second round run-off has been provisionally set for Jan. 16, but the date has to be confirmed by electoral authorities.
In an atmosphere of tension, Haitians waited impatiently for the preliminary results of the elections, which generated charges of fraud, protests and sporadic violence in the impoverished Caribbean country.
The international community has been hoping the elections, held amid a deadly cholera epidemic, can produce a stable, legitimate new leadership to steer Haiti’s recovery from a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people.
U.N. peacekeepers and international election observers have been grappling with repeated allegations of “massive fraud” by more than half of the 18 presidential candidates.
There have also been recurrent street protests and fears that there may be worse violence still come.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, which has more than 12,000 troops and police deployed in support of Haitian police, has appealed to candidates and their supporters to remain calm, respect the law and avoid violence.
