Haiti's Aristide Set to Win Presidency in Presidential Elections

Haiti's former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide looks set to win the presidency in the elections November 26 where there were no strong rivals due to a boycott by the country's main opposition, reports form Port-Au-Prince said.

The boycott, as well as fears violence would flare up again resulted in a low voter turnout.

All major opposition parties boycotted Sunday's vote, charging that irregularities in the parliamentary elections in May were designed to favor Aristide's Lavalas party, which won 17 out of 18 Senate seats at stake and 80 percent of the House Assembly.

In protest, they have dropped out of the presidential race.

Analysts here say that without a rival, 47-year-old Aristide, a former priest and the first freely elected president in Haiti, will surely be restored to power. The outcome is expected on Monday, November 27.

Fearful of violence, many of the 4 million registered voters in the country, which has a population of 7.8 million, failed to cast their votes.

Soon after polls opened, a bomb exploded near an electoral office outside Port-au-Prince, slightly injuring a man.

A spate of violent conflicts occurred between supporters of different political parities before the elections. A 14-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl died in the pre-election violence.

In Sunday's polls, up for grabs were also nine seats of the 27-member Senate.

Aristide, elected the 40th president on December 16, 1990, was ousted in a 1991 military coup and back to power after a US-led invasion in 1994.

As the Constitution does not allow consecutive terms in office, he stepped down in 1996, handing over the presidency to incumbent President Rene Preval.

It is reported that questioning the outcome of the parliamentary elections in May, Haiti's traditional allies -- the United States, Canada and the 15-nation European Union -- refused to monitor the Sunday elections. Some analysts do not expect the United States to recognize the result.






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