UN Says Elections This Year Will Help Haiti

United Nations, United States, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Feb, 2021 ) :Elections this year in Haiti could help the country return to democracy and end its latest political crisis, the UN said.

"This year offers Haiti opportunity to end a troubling period of rule by decree, restore its democracy and reinforce long-term stability," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report sent this week to the Security Council and obtained Thursday by AFP.

The report adds: "The successful conduct of the various electoral processes scheduled to take place over the course of the next ten months, along with the prospect of a peaceful transfer of presidential power to a duly elected successor, would greatly contribute to placing Haiti's people more firmly on the path to sustainable development and improved economic prospects." Protesters have been taking to the streets of Haiti in recent weeks, arguing that President Jovenel Moise's term ended over the weekend.

He and his supporters say his term lasts another year.

Moise has been governing without any checks on his power for the past year; there is no parliament now because elections due in 2018 were delayed.

The UN report said the latest Haitian election timetable calls for a constitutional referendum on April 25, followed by presidential and legislative elections on September 19. A presidential runoff would be held November 21 along with local and municipal elections.

The United Nations has committed to helping Haiti organize the elections. But Guterres expressed concern that some voters may not be registered in time and gang violence in crowded neighborhoods may hinder turnout.

The dispute over when the president's term ends stems from Moise's original election: He was voted into office in a poll later cancelled on grounds of fraud, and then elected again a year later, in 2016.