Haiti postpones presidential elections until December

November 18, 2005

According to Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, for the 3rd time since the overthrow of President Aristide Haiti is going to delay their presidential elections, this time moving from the date of November 20th to December 27th for the first round of voting. The second round, previously scheduled for January 3rd, will also have to be postponed, to January 31.

The Prime Minister says that this time the dates are set and final. He says that they took their time to set the new date and are confident that this will mean better election turnout. According to Latortue, "all the problems have been anticipated, and we have a solution for each of them."

The electoral council is expected to confirm the dates on Monday, according to Max Mathurin, head of the council. It's unknown if this new date will affect the expected handover of power on February 7, 2006.