Haiti Officially Opens Campaigning For Presidential Elections

Haiti's electoral commission on Tuesday officially opened campaigning for the rerun of presidential elections.



The process will run to Oct .7, in accordance with a national decree and the electoral timetable announced in June, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) said in a statement.



The campaign is also open for a second round of legislative elections and a vote for the Upper House of Congress.



A total of 27 presidential candidates from different parties are running in the rerun of the failed presidential election held last October that had 54 participants.



Among the current candidates for the Oct. 9 vote is Jovenel Moise of the Haitian Tet Kale Party. He was chosen by former President Michel Martelly and won all votes during the first round of the ballot.



Jude Celestin of the opposition League Alternative for Haitian Advancement and Empowerment party, who was second in votes, also confirmed his participation, as well as former Sen. Jean-Charles Moise, who finished third.



The rerun follows recommendations by an independent commission that disqualified last year's vote after uncovering widespread fraud.



Preliminary results are scheduled by Oct. 20. If a second round is necessary, results will be announced Jan. 14. The entire process should be completed and a new president sworn in by April.



The CEP estimates the entire process will cost $55 million, but funding has been complicated by a refusal to contribute by the United States which has suspended its assistance claiming it had already donated $33 million to the first round of elections.



Haiti's government expected to transfer $21 million to the CEP by the end of September, according local media.



The Caribbean nation has postponed run-off elections three times that were originally scheduled for Dec. 27, 2015, due to allegations of fraud that have caused deadly social unrest and violence across the country.



Former President Michel Martelly left office in February without a successor but signed an agreement with leading lawmakers to name Jocelerme Privert interim head of state, who is still in office despite the fact that his term formally ended in June. -