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11 December 2010 By Stephen
Lendman On November 28, Haiti's first
round legislative and presidential elections were so
tainted, they elevated sham elections to a new level -
a cruel joke, a process in name only, one fraudulent
enough to make a despot blush. Now round two, New York
Times writer Deborah Sontag headlining, "Candidates
Face Runoff in Haiti's Troubled Vote," saying: On December 7, Haiti's
Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced "that
Mirlande Manigat, a former Haitian first lady, and
Jude Celestin, (Preval's man), had won the first round
of voting." Correction: stole the first
round. Neither candidate was the people's choice. For
them, none of the above ranked first, followed by
Jean-Henry Ceant, a Haitian businessman, community
leader and philanthropist. He campaigned on Aristide's
slogan: "All people are people/Everyone is equal (tou
moun se moun)." Like so many previous times, it may
have been campaign hyperbole. Now eliminated, we'll
never know. What is clear is that Haitians again were
defrauded, an old story they never accept. In a mid-November interview,
Aristide's spokeswoman Maryse Narcisse said: Fanmi Lavalas supporters (the
vast majority) "are not participating in an illegal
election. The November 28 elections are not elections.
It's a selection process. What we're doing now is
mobilizing people, sensitizing people against the
selection. With this selection process, we are not
going anywhere. We are moving towards instability that
will last for many years." America controls everything in
Haiti, orchestrating coup d'etat rule. Its iron fist
is always ready to prevent democratic elections for
populist governance, an anathema notion Washington
rejects everywhere, including at home. Sontag described a "long, tense
day," then the 9PM electoral results announcement,
followed by "rock-throwing, tire-burning and shooting
in several urban neighborhoods and outside
(Port-au-Prince). Toward midnight, smoke curled into
the sky....protesters' chants and drums filled the
air." The US Embassy issued a
boilerplate statement, saying: "The United States, together with
Haiti's international community partners, stands ready
to support efforts to thoroughly review irregularities
in support of electoral results that are consistent
with the will of the Haitian people expressed in their
votes." In fact, Washington and its
puppet Preval orchestrated the fraud, banned 15
parties, including by far the most popular -
Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas that easily would have won
overwhelmingly. As a result, the process was
shamelessly tainted, an election in name only. Voter disenfranchisement was
widespread. Polls opened late and closed early. Ballot
box stuffing was rampant. Voters faced intimidation
and violence, and the electoral lineup had no
legitimacy, excluding peoples' choice candidates,
except for perhaps Ceant. On December 8, Al Jazeera
headlined, "Haiti set for election run-off," saying: "According to (CEP's announced)
results, Manigiat won 31 per cent of the vote and
Celestin 22 per cent." Protests and sporadic gunfire
erupted. "Much of the concern centered around
conflicts between the announced results and those
reported (earlier) by the National Observation
Council, a local election monitoring group financed by
the European Union, which said that Celestin would be
eliminated." Haitians despise him. In a free
and fair process, he'd have gotten well below 10%, not
the announced 22%, possible only by widespread ballot
box stuffing. As a result, daily street protests
followed the November vote. Thousands of Haitians
clashed with police, denouncing the sham process,
demanding new elections, yelling "Arrest Preval," and
accusing him and Celestin of electoral theft. On December 20, final results
will be announced. A presidential runoff is
provisionally scheduled on January 16, confirmation
awaiting CEP word. Following CEP's announced results, a US embassy press release said the following: "As Haiti enters the period of electoral contestation, it is essential that all political actors remain calm and encourage their supporters to do the same....Haiti's transition to democracy over the past 24 years has seen many successes, overcoming major challenges. The 2010 elections represent a critical test of whether the Haitian people will determine their destiny through their vote. The United States is committed to the consolidation of democracy in Haiti and calls on the Government of Haiti, the CEP and all political forces to ensure that the will of the people is fully reflected in the outcome of this election." The statement is self-explanatory, an imperial master's words to its subjects, establishing despotism masquerading as "democracy." As a result, Haitians get theater, not real elections, imperial rule, not of, by and for the people, hardline take-it-or-leave it tyranny. Its master's voice has spoken. It remains now how they'll react longer term for government representing them, no longer for wealth and power.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/. |
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