In Haiti, only 1 presidential candidate campaigning
In Haiti, only 1 presidential candidate campaigning
David Mcfadden, Associated Press
Updated 6:32 pm, Friday, January 8, 2016
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Campaigning for Haiti's presidential runoff election kicked off Friday, though it appears there is only one candidate who will actively participate.
Government-backed contender Jovenel Moise, a little-known agricultural entrepreneur who led a crowded field of 54 candidates with nearly 33 percent of the vote in the Oct. 25 first round, attracted roughly 1,500 people to his first rally Friday evening. Big speakers pumped out bass-heavy songs featuring his campaign moniker, "Neg Bannann" — Banana Man in Haitian Creole — and a group of women wore yellow banana costumes.
But the campaign team of the second-place finisher, Jude Celestin, was quiet a day after saying he would take part in the Jan. 24 runoff only if sweeping changes recently recommended by a special commission were adopted first to improve Haiti's much-criticized electoral machinery.
Celestin, a former state construction chief, told The Miami Herald on Thursday that outgoing President Michel Martelly "will have to do an election with just one candidate." His phone consistently goes unanswered and his campaign leaders did not respond to calls Friday.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/In-Haiti-only-1-presidential-candidate-6746085.php