AFP - The Haitian government has appealed for calm Monday in a few hours of the announcement of preliminary results of the second round of the presidential election, fearing violence as those who had followed the results of the first round last December.
Secretary of State for Public Security, Aramick Louis, asked the candidates to urge their supporters "not to violent demonstrations in the streets," regardless of the result which would be announced at 17:00 am (2200 GMT), by spokesman for the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) Richard Dumel.
The second round was between March 20 popular singer Michel Martelly, poll favorite, the University Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady aged 70.
Without waiting for the official publication of results, both sides claimed victory in recent days.
The publication of preliminary results in early December of the first round ranking Michel Martelly, 50, in third place - and thus excluding the second round - had thrown thousands of demonstrators in the streets for several days.
Faced with an outburst of violence that left several people dead, the authorities had to review the results and had returned the singer in the race to the detriment of the government candidate, Jude Celestin.
For supporters of Michel Martelly, there is no doubt that the singer called "Tet Kale" ("shaved" in Creole) will succeed Rene Preval, who was constitutionally barred from claiming a third term.
"It is slow to give results, but the president is none other than Tet Kale," said a man listening to the radio on a street in Port-au-Prince, the capital devastated by an earthquake Earth in January 2010.
"At least we can go out tomorrow," replied another man sitting beside him, explaining that in the case of the announcement a victory for Ms. Manigat, there could be violence.
The PRC had announced last week that the consultation had been tainted by fraud and that several hundreds of minutes sent by different polling centers had been canceled.
Monday, schools remained closed in Cap-Haitien and Les Cayes, the country's largest cities after the capital Port-au-Prince, local radio reported.Les Cayes, a city where violent clashes had taken place particularly in December, armored MINUSTAH, the strength of peacekeeping to the UN, were in position in the streets, and vehicles of the Haitian police
The second round was marked, a few days before the consultation by the return to Haiti of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who remains very popular among disadvantaged seven years after being ousted in an armed insurrection, with the blessing France and the United States.
Two months earlier, was the former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier who had returned to the country after 25 years of exile in France."Baby Doc" was sued by the Haitian justice for corruption and embezzlement, while several complaints of crimes against humanity have been filed against him by former opponents to his regime.
