PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Friday November 6, 2015 – Government-backed candidate Jovenel Moïse and former government executive Jude Célestin will face off in Haiti’s presidential run-off next month.
Preliminary results announced yesterday by the Provisional Electoral Council showed that the 37-year-old agricultural entrepreneur Moise, representing the ruling Parti Haitien Tet Kale (Haitian Party of Bald Heads), received 32.8 per cent (511,992) of the votes in the October 25 first round, while Célestin got 25.2 per cent (394,390).
JUDE CÉLESTIN IS MAKING A SECOND BID FOR HAITI’S PRESIDENCY. (PHOTO: CNN)
The two emerged the front-runners from a field of 54 candidates.
But ahead of the announcement, third-place finisher, Moise Jean-Charles who won 14 percent of the vote, had alleged ballots supporting him had been burned or went missing. He recently claimed that he won half of Haiti’s 10 departments.
The presidential run-off will take place on December 27.
Moise is a political newcomer who owns a banana-exporting business. This is the second bid for the Haitian presidency by Célestin, a 53-year-old mechanical engineer who previously headed a government construction agency.
Results for legislative elections that were also held on October 25 will be announced in the coming days, electoral officials said.
/www.caribbean360.com/news/government-backed-candidate-leads-haiti-presidential-vote#ixzz3qk6Zuyff
