Haiti's elections

When UN observers and members of the provisional electoral council say they worry the election in Haiti may be rigged, that's something to be concerned about. After all, it's the UN and provisional electoral council who are running the election, so who better to know.

The election is now scheduled for November 20 with a possible runoff on January 3 if no candidate receives a majority in the first round. Over 30 candidates have registered for the upcoming election including two former presidents and a US businessman who is also a former prime minister. While there are rumors that 'Baby Doc' Duvalier may be a candidate, nobody has confirmed that yet.

Notably absent from the list is a candidate for the Lavalas party. Lavalas has wide support in the slums of Haiti, although it doesn't necessarily represent a majority of the country. One possible candidate is Gerard Jean-Juste, a Catholic priest and follower of former President Aristide, but he is being held in prison. The government claims he was involved in the assassination of a journalist, but they have yet to charge him. Amnesty International and other human rights groups say he is a political prisoner prisoner of conscience. The electoral council has told him he must register in person, which he obviously can't do.

Both Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group put out reports over the summer on improving the security and human rights situation in Haiti. ICG also offered constructive comments on holding the elections. Two op-eds earlier this summer discussed the election and security situation as well. Over the past week, the OAS Secretary General held several discussions at the UN about the upcoming elections and the security situation (he also said he will not ask the US for troops). The Ministers of Defense of Spain and Chile are calling for an increased UN mandate after the election.

If there is good news, it is that over 2.25 million people have registered to vote, a notable improvement over two months ago when less than a million had registered. No, it's not near the three million goal, but it shows progress. The UN World Food Program is doing good work bringing supplies to those hit by natural disasters. Also, there are many sections of the country that are relatively peaceful, where life goes on and people are looking forward to having an elected government back in power.

Haiti's elections are going to happen and they are not going to be accepted by everyone. They are another step in a long process that is going to be mired with corruption and difficulties. The government wants and needs these elections to be accepted as legitimate by both the international community and the country. However, the government's failure to uphold minimum standards of transparency or human rights are hurting those efforts. The international community is about to face the difficult task of balancing their criticism of this election with the need to work with a not fully democratic government in order to continue rebuilding Haiti.

UPDATE: Randy has thoughts on his site and also links to an excellent four part series from Slate on the situation in Haiti. If I find the time, I'll hopefully have more thoughts on Haiti later this week...