Haiti scraps election; interim president says could stay for months

Haiti’s interim president, Jocelerme Privert, has told the Reuters News Agency that he will stay in office until next year to transfer power to an elected president unless parliament rules otherwise. He adopted this positioon after the electoral council on Monday scrapped the results of a disputed presidential vote.

The Haiti presidential first-round vote was held last October, but a second-round run-off was postponed several times after losing candidates alleged fraud. Privert was chosen as an interim leader when the last president, Michel Martelly, left office without a successor.

The electoral council accepted a recommendation to scrap the first-round results after a commission found evidence of fraud and set new dates for a fresh first round to be held on October 9, with a run-off vote on January 8.

Under a multi-party agreement, Privert was supposed to have overseen elections and handed power to an elected successor within 120 days, by June 14. Electoral deadlines were missed after a spat over appointments and the establishment of the commission to investigate the first round, Reuters reported.

Read more at: Reuters