Singer Beats Former First Lady In Haiti Elections

 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - – Musician Michel ‘Sweet Mickey’ Martelly appears set to become Haiti’s new president, based on preliminary results of the second round of elections released late yesterday.

He was able to secure 67.6 percent of the votes to beat former first lady Mirlande Manigat who got 31.5 percent, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced.

However, Manigat will be given time to contest the outcome before the final results are announced later in the month.

The Miami Herald is reporting that Manigat’s camp is already charging the results were changed late last night after members of the CEP made a surprise visit to the vote tabulation centre where tally sheets were undergoing a final scrutiny for fraud.

Martelly came from behind, initially not even included in the run-off following the first round of elections. Manigat and Jude Célestin - who was handpicked by President René Préval – had been announced as the front-runners, with Martelly in third position.

However, after violent protests in the country as Martelly’s supporters, in particular, accused the ruling party of engaging in fraud to ensure a win for Célestin, a review of the results was conducted by an expert team from the Organisation of American States (OAS) which recommended that Celestin be dropped from the runoff and replaced by Martelly.

The original schedule had set the announcement of final results for April 16, but with the preliminary results postponed from last Thursday to today, the CEP is yet to indicate whether there will be any change to the calendar.