Losing presidential candidates form opposition movement

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 27, CMC – Two losing presidential candidates have joined with other legislators here to form an opposition movement which they say is opposed to the “electoral coup” that allowed for 48-year-old businessman, Jovenel Moise, to win the November 20 presidential elections last year.
Jude Célestin and Moïse Jean-Charles said that “Democratic Sector Reunited,” is not a political platform or an alliance of losing candidates, but a grouping of political leaders and various other stakeholders that have rejected the “electoral coup” that brought Moise to power.
Moise is due to be sworn in as the new head of state to replace Michel Martelly, who left office last February without a successor being elected.
Jean-Charles said that the new group does not intend to leave the country in the hands of Moïse, adding that it was formed not only to block the investiture of the President-elect but also to thwart support from the international community…
Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé, the former campaign leader Jude Célestin, said the movement had been formed to safeguard the democratic gains.
On Thursday, supporters of three political parties, including Famni Lavalas, staged a peaceful march in the streets of the capital denouncing Moise’s victory.
Meanwhile, the Organization of American States (OAS) says it has completed the deployment of the mission that will observe the legislative and local elections to be held in Haiti on Sunday.
The OAS said that the team, headed by former Uruguayan senator Juan Raúl Ferreira and comprising 77international observers from 21 countries, will analyze, among other matters, issue related to electoral organization and technology, gender, electoral justice and security.
Earlier this month, a senior United Nations official and the UN Security Council joined the international community in congratulating Moïse, whose election, the UN said “completes a repeatedly delayed process that took over a year.”
Sandra Honoré, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti, and the other members of the so-called “Core Group” welcomed the announcement by Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) that Moïse won the November 20 election.
Haiti has been led by Interim President Jocelerme Privert an interim president since last February.