Ongoing struggle over stolen election in Haiti

The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) declared on Jan. 3 that Jovenel Moïse had won the Nov. 20, 2016, Haitian presidential election.

Moïse was the candidate of the Bald Headed Haitian Party (PHTK), founded by former President Michel Martelly.

Thousands of people at the call of the mass organization Fanmi Lavalas came out Jan. 4 to protest the CEP’s decision. Their protest was broken up by cops firing tear gas.

There have been over 30 massive militant demonstrations in Port-au-Prince against an electoral coup d’etat since the election.

The statement Fanmi Lavalas issued Jan. 3 on their Facebook page made it clear that Fanmi Lavalas is going to continue to struggle. The statement raises how the votes were counted but doesn’t raise the issue of how the voting itself was conducted.

It reads in part: “When we saw how the CEP through the National Electoral Challenges Court (BCEN) chose not to respect article 187 of the electoral decree which allows the contesting parties to observe verification at Vote Tabulation Centers after the BCEN had ordered verification;

“When we see the CEP’s conspiracy through the BCEN not to apply article 158.1, 171.1 of the electoral decree where three quarters of the minutes have not been processed;

“When we find that the CEP refuses to respect the democratic principle that is one person one vote;

“For all these reasons, the Political Organization Fanmi Lavalas says that it continues to reject this electoral coup, that it does not recognize any results of the CEP until the verifications that should have been carried out as required by the electoral decree are carried out.

“Fanmi Lavalas asks all democrats, all peasant associations, workers, students, professionals, women and young people to continue to mobilize against the CEP and all the thieves of their vote.

“We will never obey! Long live democracy!”

Moïse won the election, according to the CEP, with a total of 590,927 votes. To put this into context, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide won with 1.6 million votes in 1990 and 2.2 million in 2000.

The U.S. and France, which earlier had expressed satisfaction with how the vote was conducted and its outcome, have not said anything publicly on the CEP’s ­decision.