Haiti Launches Campaign Season

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -24th Augst,2016) - Haiti officially kicked off its campaign season for parliamentary and presidential elections in October after first-round presidential voting results last year were scrapped because of massive electoral fraud and violence. "Many people were skeptical, there were doubts about how the elections would be conducted," said Leopold Berlanger, who heads the provisional electoral council, or CEP.

"But today, as you can see, the campaign has begun." Haiti has been mired in deep political crisis since violence disrupted parliamentary elections in August 2015, prompting the vote to be canceled in nearly a quarter of Constituencies.

The crisis later came to a head following the announcement of results from the first round of the presidential vote in October. Challenged by the opposition after an independent commission concluded that the vote had been plagued by "massive fraud," the government annulled the results and called for a fresh presidential election.

Nearly 6.2 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots on October 9 in the first round of the presidential election as well as a legislative vote. The presidential election's second round is scheduled for January 8.