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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 23 2016 – Haiti braced for more demonstrations against outgoing President Michel Martelly on Saturday even after authorities buckled to pressure and cancelled a presidential election the opposition said was riddled with fraud.
The Caribbean nation was due to hold a runoff vote on Sunday, but the two-man race was postponed indefinitely after opposition candidate Jude Celestin refused to participate and anti-government protests and violence spread nationally.
Martelly says the allegations of fraud are unfounded but many protesters believe he unfairly favoured his chosen successor, banana exporter Jovenel Moise, and are demanding the president step down immediately.
Rioters burned tires and a vehicle in Port-au-Prince on Friday. Shots were fired by the police and bystanders and several people were injured in clashes. Across the country this week election offices have been burned.
The streets were calmer on Saturday morning, with broken windows the only evidence of the violence.
“The elections had to be cancelled, and so things can change,” said a relieved Port-au-Prince resident Lafore Jeanti, speaking at a market on Saturday morning.
But by early afternoon, about 1,000 protesters had gathered again in downtown Port-au-Prince with protest leaders calling for Martelly to leave government immediately.
“We cannot wait until Feb. 7, Martelly must leave,” said Assad Volcy, a protest leader.
Opposition leaders said the protests would continue, in a move that will keep up the pressure on Martelly as different factions try to influence the contours of any transitional administration charged with organising the delayed election.
Hamstrung with weak institutions, impoverished Haiti has struggled to build a stable democracy since the overthrow of the 1957-1986 dictatorship of the Duvalier family and ensuing military coups and election fraud.
