Haiti Elects New President Amid Hurricane Recovery Efforts

Political newcomer and banana exporter Jovenel Moïse won Haiti’s presidential elections, the country’s electoral council announced on November 28. After a two-year electoral process marked by allegations of fraud, numerous delays, natural disasters, and economic and political instability, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council Chief Uder Antoine said Jovenel Moïse won 55.6 percent of the votes on November 20. Moïse finished well ahead of runner-up Jude Célestin and the remaining 25 candidates.  

The make-up vote occurred more than a year after the previous election was terminated as a result of allegations of widespread fraud by opposition candidates and human rights and religious groups. The allegations triggered violent protests and the creation of a provisional government.

Should election results hold, Haiti will have an elected president for the first time since former head of state Michel Martelly left office on February 7 without an elected successor.

However, some fear Moïse’s win in an election with a mere 21 percent voter turnout, a percentage largely limited by the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew and voters’ disillusionment with politics and elections, will not guarantee political stability. Moïse won with just 595,000 votes in a country of 10 million people.

In fact, other presidential candidates began to question the preliminary results in recent days. Jude Célestin, who came in second with 19 percent of the vote, along with third and fourth place finishers Jean-Charles Moïse and Maryse Narcisse, pledged to challenge the results in court.

“For a guy who is supposedly popular, where is the celebration in the streets?” said Célestin. “We’re going to fight this. We’re asking the population to stay mobilized while we conduct the fight through the law.”  

Under Haitian law, political parties can challenge the results in front of the country’s electoral tribunal before winners are certified on December 29.

Yet, Haitian and international observers maintain that the election was conducted fairly. The Organization of American States (OAS) issued a statement supporting the outcome, saying, “The preliminary results show significant margins between the number of votes obtained by the candidates contesting the election and are in line with data collected by OAS observers at polling stations on Election Day.”

It will be up to Mr. Moïse to govern and rebuild a nation that continues to recover from a 2010 earthquake and a more recent hurricane. Following the announcement of his victory, Moïse urged Haitians to help him mobilize the country’s resources and promised he would “put the rivers, the sun, the soil, and the people to work.”