At the time where the hearings at the National Bureau for Electoral Complaints and Challenges (BCEN) are completed the anxieties of the legislative candidates in the running are highlighted by the spate of rumors and protest actions which are disturbing public order. The Joint OAS-CARICOM Electoral Observation Mission (JEOM) deplores the violent protests. The Mission calls on the candidates to invite their supporters to remain peaceful and not to resort to violent protests. Only the legal recourses provided by the Electoral Law of which the candidates and their lawyers availed themselves during the hearings can have a bearing on the preliminary results and on the decisions, which will be taken by the highest instance on matters pertaining to the elections.

The Mission reminds that it is critically important that the impartiality of the decisions of the penultimate phase of the electoral process, which is at present in the hands of the Commissioners, enhances the improvements of the second round of the elections. The integrity of the work of the BCEN will signify also a step forward in strengthening the rule of law in electoral matters and will reinforce the credibility and legitimacy of those elected and of the entire electoral process.

Pierre Thibault Junior, Director of Communications of CEP announced that the BCEN had taken decisions the last weekend of 68 cases of contestation about the 71 that were heard. At 24 hours of the publication of the final results of the second round of Presidential and Legislative Elections, Pierre Thibault indicated "We work very hard in order to publish the final election results this Wednesday, the team that handles the data entry and information processing, also working very hard to finish typing all the judgments so they go for the signature and be displayed before the publication of the results [...]"

Asked about the protests recorded last week in several towns, Pierre Thibault said "The CEP has never missed an opportunity to appeal for calm and serenity, but at the same time we ask the police to take their responsibilities and to control the excesses we are talking about the National Police Haiti (PNH), of the of justice and Minustah. As I always said, there are bad losers and I think again that justice and the police must do their work. [...] Immediately after the publication of results, there are two steps we must undertake quickly, the first is to provide those results to the Executive so that it can publish them in "Le Moniteur" [Official Gazette] and the second is to give to all the elected a certificate so that it can sit at the Parliament"

S/ HaitiLibre