Reacting to the first round of legislative elections on 9 August, Mirlande Manigat, Secretary General of the "National Rally of Progressive Democrats" (RDNP), in an open letter, expressed her indignation and disgust "at this masquerade, this day of the shame that the Government and its associates, including notorious collaborators, want shameless and in a indecent manner make believe for a successful election day."

Excerpts from the letter of Mirlande Manigat :

"Dear compatriots,

In a message entitled "What I believe," I warned the nation that the 16th CEP, constituted only a few credible personalities, was not able to properly organize the elections as an institution without functional past and without accumulated experience [...] And I even added : 'The way of functioning of the CEP established on the basisof a consensus lame, without any constitutional basis, tolerated by weariness, underlined both, his incompetence, a lack of professionalism and a kind of lightness in the way of dealing the candidature files by its various organs [...]'

Today I come to you to express my outrage, my revulsion at this masquerade, this day of shame that the government and its partners, including notorious collaborators, want shameless and in a indecent manner make believe for a successful election day.

What idea they have of the Haitian Nation? How dare they say to us, Haitians, that this trickery is the legitimate expression of the popular will! This should not happen!

Dear compatriots,

I will not return on the details of the facts [...] that black Sunday. We were all greatly edified. All girls and son of this country, concerned with its future and that of our children, we thought a nightmare!

This happened on Sunday can be summarized in two words: AN ANTIDEMOCRATIC DISASTER !

In fact, it is the result of a combination of three factors:

- Basically incompetence and unpreparedness to handle the administrative machinery by the CEP which has knocked us with too many figures and precise (few hours after) and too insistently to be reassuring.

- A triggered sporadic violence throughout the country in order to dissuade voters and create a climate of mistrust and fear; especially as expertly distilled noises were made to believe that the Government would declare a curfew.

- A planned sabotage as part of a strategy. Indeed, it is revealing that only a few parties had been entitled to mandates to monitor the evolution of the votes in favor of their candidates. This conscious and organized favoritism was denounced throughout the day without finding an answer. The ones that have been paid to try to thrust upon us must understand that the interests of the country come before their own.

[...]

How to justify the lack of mandates? The parade was found by the President of the CEP, which at the end of the day, pointed the finger at a culprit that would have concealed half of the mandates... But let us not alarmed, this President, who during the 2010 elections had prioritized the reason of State on Democracy, this time has already initiated a judicial action! This information was quickly relayed by the Minister of Justice himself, who has shown a curious and unusual haste in the matter... But unfortunately for them, the incriminated person fought back immediately and has made disturbing revelations, aimed to Mr. Opont himself and denounce the instructions. We'll know more later...

But already this incident is indicative of the strategy that was preparing: limit the number of voters, get a significant number of elected officials in the 1st round, thus retracting the second round and thus ensure the chosen party a comfortable majority in both houses .

To understand this subtle game, one has to refer to the texts of the Constitution taken by the Electoral Decree for senators and deputies; they open up a legal path for passing the selected candidates.

They say this: On the occasion of the elections, the candidate in the House or the Senate the most favored in the first round who did not obtain an absolute majority (which is the rule) is declared the winner in the case where his lead over his immediate pursuer is at or above 25%

An opening of the same kind is taken to the presidential elections. There is therefore a logical sequence between these constitutional provisions and the setting in motion of a real strategy for reducing voter turnout. Hence number of candidates who could logically claim victory, who have exhausted their finances, the fund of their party and their time, are initially cheated.

[...]

For once I am sorry that the facts have proved me right: 'People expected impartiality from the CEP where is revealed cronyism; it hoped the integrity of its members, where suspicions are confirmed; it believed, wrongly, that it might inspire confidence in the transparency of the process, where it demonstrates its submission to certain forces acting under visor or hands; it demanded its rigor where it shows versatility in its selections and eliminations, followed by retrofits and exclusions in a pace dictated by contradictory interests without convincing explanations.'

Today, on behalf of the moral and political positions that I always assumed I appeal to citizens aware, lucid and revolted by what happened on August 9 that they pull themselves together, they are saying NO to this insult to our people dignity!

Let us unite to show our determination not to condone this ignominy by a silence and a passivity that will assassinate, once again, our hopes and bury democratic ideals.

Haitian people, the country of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Charlemagne Péralte, Our Haiti does not deserve this slap sound. Let's asking purely and simply the cancellation of this masquerade and consequently the resignation of the CEP.

Mirlande H. Manigat "

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-14291-haiti-politic-mirlande-manigat-against-the-cep-and-the-government.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13798-haiti-flash-presidential-mirlande-manigat-throws-in-the-towel.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12930-haiti-politic-mirlande-manigat-broke-her-silence-and-shouts-her-anger.html

HL/ HaitiLibre