PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL ADVISER TO SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HAITI

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL ADVISER TO SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HAITI

While welcoming the recent elections in Haiti, the Secretary-General has expressed disquiet about the arrests of candidates and activists associated with the opposition parties since the 21 May vote, according to a statement read out at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon by Manuel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman to the Secretary-General.

The statement, attributable to the Spokesman, reads as follows (see Press Release SG/SM/7451):

"The Secretary-General has been following developments in Haiti. He is pleased to note that voting for parliamentary and local officials took place on 21 May and that delayed elections were held in the Grand Anse on 11 June. Electoral observers did not report major incidents of violence or irregularities on the days of voting. The Secretary-General is encouraged that, despite serious security concerns in the lead-up to election day, some 50 per cent of the country’s newly registered electors chose to vote, thereby endorsing a peaceful democratic process regulated by the Constitution and secondary law.

"The Secretary-General is, however, disquieted by the series of arrests in the days following the elections. It is cause for additional concern that many of those detained were candidates or activists affiliated with parties of the opposition. The Secretary-General also wishes to express his concern over the continuing irregularities in the methodology used to calculate the vote percentages for Senate candidates, as pointed out by the Organization of American States (OAS) Electoral Observer Mission on 2 June. He reiterates his expectation that in calculating the final results, the Haitian electoral authorities will strictly adhere to the procedures stipulated in the electoral law of July 1999.”

Speaking at the press briefing, Alfredo Cabral, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, said the international community had witnessed the participation in the elections of 50 per cent of the voters in a non-violent environment. At the end of the day "we were very relieved and felt that in general terms the people of Haiti had participated massively, compared with the 5 per cent in 1997". Fifty per cent was quite an achievement, he stressed.

While the final results were being awaited, he said, the Provisional Electoral Council’s preliminary findings had shown that 16 out of 17 Senate seats were attributed outright to one particular party –- Lavalas. [Nineteen out of 27 seats were to be filled.] Subsequently, it was discovered that an error had been made in the calculation of the percentage of the winning margin. The electoral law stipulated that a candidate needed 50 per cent plus one vote to be elected outright in the first round; however, when the preliminary results were examined, it had been discovered that the methodology used was not in accordance with the provisions of the electoral law.

He said the error was brought to the attention of the Provisional Electoral Council, and that the Head of the Observer Mission of the OAS, which monitored the

Haiti Briefing - 2 - 14 June 2000

elections, had urged the Council to look at the issue again and to correct it. That had been on 31 May.

Mr. Cabral said a member of the Provisional Electoral Council had said on local television on 4 June that no error had been committed and that the Council had used a methodology previously applied in the 1997 and 1995 elections. "Of course, we do not have any proof of that", Mr. Cabral said. As far as the international community was concerned, he said, "We believe that the electoral law is very clear, and that 50 per cent plus one vote is the necessary way to establish absolute majority".

A letter sent to the Head of the OAS Observer Mission from the President of the Provisional Electoral Council on 6 June stated that the results of the elections were so far preliminary and provisional and that there was no reason to rush to judgement. The Head of the Provisional Electoral Council therefore considered the letter from the head of the OAS Observer Mission to be an interference in Haiti's affairs, with the potential of complicating the issue.

"We stand very firmly behind the OAS Observer Mission because as I have stated before, the electoral law is very clear. There is no reason why 50 per cent plus one vote, as stated in the electoral law, should not be applied with regard to this election", he said.

It was a very important question, because whoever controlled the Senate, controlled the Parliament, he said, noting that the President of the Senate was the President of the National Assembly. The Parliament was made up of 27 Senate seats and 83 for the Lower House.

Asked what the United Nations could do in the wake of the reported errors, Mr. Cabral said it remained to be seen whether, in fact, there were unintentional errors or not. The Provisional Electoral Council had the authority to conduct the elections. The Mission expected it to apply the electoral law as requested by the OAS Observer Mission and indeed by the international community as a whole.

He said the elections were very important to ensure that Haiti's democratic process was back on track. The international community had invested a lot in order to ensure the holding of free, transparent and credible elections. Democratic institutions, such as an elected parliament, were important for the strengthening of a democratic society and the establishment of the rule of law.

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