PM urges young people to move away from a life of crime

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 29, CMC – A total of 31, 000 candidates are on Sunday facing the electorate in Haiti for positions in the Senate and local government bodies.
The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) said there are 5,536 elected posts up for grabs. The last time Haiti held local elections was December 5, 2006.
The second round of balloting followed the November 20 presidential and legislative elections last November that resulted in the election of 48-year-old businessman Jovenel Moise as the new head of state to replace Michel Martelly, who left office in February 2016.
There are at least 4,000 observers including 71 from the Organization of American States’ Electoral Observation Mission, keeping tabs on the polling day activities.
The Mayor of Les Cayes, Jean Gabriel Fortuné, has appealed to all “to go to vote.
“Go to fulfill your civil duty, the future of the country, the communes and the communal sections depend on yours. Vote en masse, vote for people who will fight in the interest of the department. Good Sunday,” he added.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Civilian Chief of the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH), Sandra Honoré Minustah, urged Haitians to go and vote to “elect your representatives to the CASEC and ASEC as well as city delegates.
“It will also be for you to elect 8 senators in the second round of the partial senatorial elections, the senators of the department of the North East and South East having already been elected in the first round”.
She said that the elections will finally give the voters the chance to elect the deputy of Roseaux in Grande Anse, whose election was not able to take place last November because of the damage caused by the passage of Hurricane Matthew.
“The local elections and legislative elections this Sunday will mark the culmination of this electoral cycle and the full re-establishment of democratic institutions, thus facilitating the opening of a new stage in the process of democratization, stabilization and development of Haiti.
“It is important to remember that local elections have not been organized since 2006,  that of January 29 will allow you to choose your representatives in charge of ensuring the proximity management of your territorial spaces, thus guaranteeing the country a participatory democracy, which will influence the future direction Haiti will take,” she said in a message.
Honoré said she also welcomed the efforts of the CEP to ensure a smooth and fair election adding “I would also like to congratulate the Haitian National Police (PNH) for its professionalism in protecting citizens, voters and CEP facilities during this final stage of the electoral process”.
She promised that MINUSTAH will provide the PNH with its police and military staff for the implementation of the joint integrated electoral security plan.
“I call upon all men and women candidates, representatives and supporters of political parties, representatives, all women and men of voting age to do their utmost to allow the elections to take place in the peace.
“I encourage political actors to wait calmly for election results and to take the path of justice to solve the problems they may encounter in the process, based on democratic values and principles, not to do violence, in order to build a stable country, a country that will change its image,” she added.