SECRETARY-GENERAL PLEASED BY ELECTIONS IN HAITI, BUT CONCERNED BY ARRESTS, IRREGULARITIES
Press Release
SG/SM/7451
SECRETARY-GENERAL PLEASED BY ELECTIONS IN HAITI, BUT CONCERNED BY ARRESTS, IRREGULARITIES
20000614The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:
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 countrys 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 activist 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.
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