Election Hope in Haiti

The presidential election in Haiti will be November 28th and there are 19 candidates on the ballot. Politics in Haiti are often corrupt and cause violence. "Campaigning consists of televised debates that most Haitians don't watch because they don't have TV sets or electricity." Haiti needs a good leader, especially right now as the nation has faced a major earthquake and currently a Cholera epidemic. The Obama administration, international donors, and U.N. special envoy Bill Clinton will all be working with the Haitian government to spend $9 billion dollars to help rebuild Haiti. According to the U.S. ambassador who has sat down with the top contenders he has "not met anybody we can't work with." As a usual election in Haiti none of the candidates is seen as U.S. favorite, but none are opposition politician running against the U.S. However many complain about the arrogance of charities and NGOs that "form a kind of parallel state" in Haiti. Violence has mostly been directed at U.N. peacekeepers and "by Haiti standards, it has been quite peaceful." In Haiti choosing a candidate revolves around personalities rather than parties. The question most voters are facing is whether or not they want to vote to continue in the path of the current president by selecting his hand picked successor, or voting for one of the other 18 candidates promising change. Candidates are running on many different platforms. One promises to welcome back exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, another to create jobs and another to build roads. According to candidate Michel Martelly, "If the revolution doesn't happen by peaceful means, it will happen eventually, by other means."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/18/AR2010111806518_2.html

Submitted by: Erin Burneson