Haiti to install new electoral panel for presidential poll

Haiti has finally established a new electoral panel to organize the long overdue elections for general and municipal polls.

The 9 member panel which is formed from different sectors of the society was sworn in just before a UN Security Council delegation arrived on a 3 day mission.

“It’s a new step for the country on the road to democracy,” Prime Minister Evans Paul said after the swearing-in ceremony in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Elections had been overdue in the country for over 3 years and necessary action was only taken after there was a failure to elect new MPs after the Haitian government was dissolved last week. "Until elections can be held, Power said Haiti’s leadership will have to govern in an inclusive manner during a period of flux “in order to maintain the legitimacy of the state.” Said Samantha Power who is the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Meanwhile anti-government protests have been going on against the current president of Haiti Michel Martelly who has been in power since 2011. His opponents accuse him of using the current crisis to promote his own candidate to succeed him in elections later this year.

Haiti remains one of the poorest nations of the western hemisphere and is still recovering from the earthquake that struck their capital in 2010.

by Sahla Ilham

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