Although it's nice to see that people are pleased with the new results (ie. cheering instead of burning tires) that will send Martelly and Manigat to the runoff election, it's disappointing how clearly manufactured they are. Instead of being the clear outcome of ballots cast, these results are the product of negotiations between political factions and the international community. In the days before the results were announced, calls were increasing for the elections to be reheld, including a statement from the Congressional Black Caucus. CEPR conducted an analysis of the OAS report and found "serious flaws" and "unsupported conclusions," not to mention that they recommended a change in the election results without conducting a full ballot recount. It's kind of sad that it doesn't matter anymore that these weren't actually real elections.
The above poster made by the CEP with the slogan "28 November we'll be voting!" also features a scantily clad cartoon woman in the top left, dilapidated ginger bread house in the top right corner with a huge solar panel and little pine trees photoshopped onto it and below that, a cityscape of what looks like Paris. Questions anyone?
This is me trying to sleep. Photo by Frank
Martelly talks to the press after the announcement.
1 comment:
Yeah, it doesn't feel good does it - this whole idea of choosing the least bad of all the bad options. It was the same thing in 2006 when, in order to avoid a contentious second round, serious negotiation involving the international community resulted in a decision to proportionally divide the spoiled or null ballots among the candidates based on their vote counts, thereby changing the percentages slightly and pushing Preval high enough to avoid a second round. That is NOT an election. Thanks for your perspective on the ongoing saga of Ayiti Cheri.
Matt
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