2015–16 Haitian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Haiti on 9 August 2015, with a second round initially planned for 25 October.[1][2] Two-thirds of the Senate and all members of the Chamber of Deputies were up for election. International observers reported that early rounds of voting have experienced significant fraud, including people voting more than once due to failure of indelible ink, vote buying due to lack of secrecy, poor training of election workers, poor tracking of political parties, and other problems.[3] This has resulted in the nullification of some results and rescheduling of re-runs. The second round of the parliamentary elections that had been scheduled for October 2015 was postponed to October 2016, along with the first round for a third of the Senate and the first round of a new presidential election.[4]

2015–2016 Haitian parliamentary election

9 August 2015 (first round)
25 October 2015 (second round)
20 November 2016 (second round)

The United States withdrew funding for the October 2016 round, though it financially supported previous rounds and observers from the Organization of American States.[5] The second round was scheduled for 9 October 2016 but was postponed to 20 November due to Hurricane Matthew. It was held together with local elections and the first round of the presidential election.[1][2]

Electoral system

Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system; a second round being held if no candidate in a constituency wins a majority of the vote in the first round.[6] In March 2015 an electoral decree increased the number of members in the new Chamber of Deputies from 99 to 118, with the Senate retaining the 30 members.[7] On 13 March, President Martelly issued a decree that split the Cerca La Source in two constituencies, and therefore increasing the number of deputies to 119.[8]

One-third of the 30-member Senate is elected every two years, also using the two-round system.[9] However, the previous Senate elections, which had been scheduled for May 2012, were not held, meaning two-thirds of the seats were up for elections in 2015.[10]

The Haitian election calendar was as follows:

Date Election
9 August 2015 First round of parliamentary election (cancelled in 22 constituencies)
First round of Senate two-thirds election
25 October 2015 Second round of parliamentary election (constituencies that hadn't cancelled the 9 August election)
First round of parliamentary election (22 constituencies that cancelled the 9 August election)
Second round of Senate two-thirds election
24 April 2016 (cancelled)[11] Second round of presidential election
Second round of parliamentary election (22 constituencies that cancelled the 9 August election and 2 that will have to repeat the October second round)
First round of Senate one-third election[12][13]
9 October 2016 (postponed due to Hurricane Matthew)[14]
20 November 2016[15]

Campaign

A total of 2,037 candidates registered to contest the elections, representing 98 different political parties. A total of 522 candidates were disqualified in a first instance, leaving 186 candidates for the Senate and 1,329 for the Chamber of Deputies. The Provisional Electoral Council updated the list of candidates on 26 June, with the addition of 47 candidates for the Senate and 294 for the Chamber of Deputies that had been previously rejected, making a grand total of 233 candidates for senator and 1,624 for deputy.[16][17]

The number of candidates among the principal parties are shown here:

Party Candidates
Senators Deputies Total
Truth (Vérité) 15 100 115
Haitian Tèt Kale Party (Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale) 11 99 110
Fanmi Lavalas 16 83 99
Platfom Pitit Desalin 14 85 99
Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats 11 85 96
Renmen Ayiti 15 79 94
Struggling People's Organization 10 83 93
Convention for Democratic Unity 12 73 85
Pont 3 52 55
Patriotic Unity (Inite Patriyotik) 8 39 47
Respect (Respé) 6 36 42
Haiti in Action 4 36 40
PPG18 2 31 33
Patriotic Movement of the Democratic Opposition (MOPOD) 5 23 28
Peasant Platform Platfòm Peyizan 2 23 25
Christian Movement for a New Haiti 3 19 22
Other parties 96 677 774
Total 233 1,623 1,857
Sources:

On September 8, 2015, candidates of the Verité party withdrew from the elections.[18]

Results

2015 results

According to the preliminary results given by the Electoral Committee, there were 1,046,516 valid votes for an electorate of 5,871,450, which represents a 17.82% turnout.[19] The elections were cancelled in 22 constituencies, and therefore there were no results for those districts.[20]

On September 28 the Electoral Committee released definitive results, and declared elected one senator from AAA (Haiti in Action) and one from LIDE (Ligue Dessalines). For the deputies' election, 8 deputies were elected: 4 candidates from PHTK (Haitian Tèt Kale Party), 2 from AAA (Haiti in Action), 1 from VERITE (Truth) and 1 from INITE PATRIYOTIK (Patriotic Unity).[21] The second round of the legislative election took place on October 25, along with the first round of the presidential election and the first round of the legislative election on the constituencies where the August election were cancelled.[22]

The results of October 25 second round for the Senate says that were elected 3 candidates from KID, 3 from Verité, 2 from PHTK, and Fanmi Lavalas, PONT, OPL and Pettit Dessalines each had one.[23] 82 deputies were elected in the second round.[24] Eight more had already won in the first round on 9 August. The second round at the districts where the election was repeated should take place on 27 December, but on 21 December the Electoral Committee announced that the elections were postponed indefinitely.[25]

2016 results

According to Reuters, one of the elected Senators, Guy Philippe, participated in the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and is wanted by the DEA for "conspiracy to import cocaine and launder monetary instruments". He campaigned with President-Elect Jovenel Moïse.[26]

The total of deputies and senators elected until December 2016 is stated below. The table lists in separate columns the number of deputies elected in the second rounds made in 2015 and 2016, because some of the run-offs were delayed along with the presidential run-off.

Chamber of Deputies

PartySeats
First
round
Second
round
(2015)
Second
round
(2016)
Total
Haitian Tèt Kale Party422531
Truth 112417
Struggling People's Organization0729
Konvansyon Inite Demokratik0718
Fanmi Lavalas0628
Haiti in Action2406
Reseau National Bouclier0325
Patriotic Unity1304
Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats0314
Renmen Ayiti0213
Alternative League for Haitian Progress and Emancipation0303
Tet Kole sous Chimen Devlopman pou un Nord'Ouest uni et Renonve0202
Consortium des Partis Politiques0202
Platfòm Pitit Desalin0112
Ansanm Patriyot pou Lavni Ayiti0022
Pont0101
Parti pour la Libération des Masses et d'Intégration Sociale0101
Konbit Travaye Peyizan pou Libere Ayiti0101
Mouvement National Haïtien0101
Konsyans Patriotik0101
Federalist Party0101
Socialist Action Movement0101
Konbit Nasyonal0011
Platfòm Leve Kanpe0011
CANAAN0011
Vacant3
Total88424119
Source: Haiti Libre, Haiti Libre, Haiti Libre, Haiti Libre

Senate

PartySeats
First
round
Second
round
(2015)
Second
round
(2016)
Total
Haitian Tèt Kale Party0235
Truth 0303
Konvansyon Inite Demokratik0303
Struggling People's Organization0101
Fanmi Lavalas0101
Haiti in Action1001
Reseau National Bouclier0011
Patriotic Unity0011
Consortium des Partis Politiques0011
Pont0101
Platfòm Pitit Desalin0101
Ligue Dessalinienne1001
Total212620
Source: Haiti Libre, Haiti Libre, Haiti Libre, Haiti Libre

List of elected senators

Name Party Department
Antonio ChéramyVÉRITÉOuest
Carl Murat CantaveKIDArtibonite
Denis CadeauBOUCLIERNippes
Dieudonné Luma ÉtiennePHTKNord
Dieupie ChérubinKIDSud-Est
Evallière BeauplanPONTNord-Ouest
Francenet DenisVÉRITÉNippes
Garcia DelvaAAAAribonite
Guy PhilippeCONSORTIUMGrand'Anse
Jacques Sauveur JeanPHTKNord-Est
Jean-Marie Junior SalomonOPLSud
Jean Marie Ralph FéthièrePHTKNord
Jean Renel SénatusLIDEOuest
Jean Rigaud BélizaireCONSORTIUMGrand'Anse
Joseph LambertKONASud-Est
Kedlaire AugustinPHTKNord-Ouest
Nawoon MarcellusBOUCLIERNord
Nenel CassyFLNippes
Onondieu LouisKIDNord-Ouest
Pierre François SildorPHTKSud
Pierre Paul Patrice DumontRPHOuest
Ricardo PierrePITIT DESALINSud-Est
Richard Lénine Hervé FourcandPHTKSud
Ronald LarècheVÉRITÉNord-Est
Rony CélestinPHTKCentre
Sorel JacintheINITEGrand'Anse
Wanique PierrePHTKNord-Est
Wilfrid GélinPHTKCentre
Willot JosephPHTKCentre
Youri LaturtueAAAArtibonite
Source: CEP

See also

References

  1. "Haiti first-round parliamentary elections held despite ′incidents′". Deutsche Welle. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. "Calendrier électoral" (in French). Provisional Electoral Council. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. "OAS will observe Haiti's elections but wants changes ahead of vote". Miami Herald. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. "Haiti – FLASH : Presidential Elections on October 9 – HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7". Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  5. "Will a Haiti election without U.S. dollars undermine the vote?". Miami Herald. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  6. Electoral system IPU
  7. "Haiti – Elections : Electoral Decree adopted, 19 more Deputies... – HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7". Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  8. Union, Inter-Parliamentary. "IPU PARLINE database: HAITI (Chambre des Députés), Last elections". Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  9. Electoral system IPU
  10. "Haiti sets date for long overdue elections". BBC. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  11. "Prensa Latina News Agency - Haitian Prime Minister Resigns after Agreement on Governance". Archived from the original on 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  12. "Haiti – FLASH : Deputies – Final results of the 2nd round of October 25, 2015". Haiti Libre. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  13. "Haiti – FLASH : Elections of January 24 are canceled !". HaitiLibre. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  14. "Haiti – FLASH : The elections of October 9 postponed". Haiti Libre. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  15. lefigaro.fr (14 October 2016). "Haïti: nouvelles dates pour les élections". Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  16. CEP Releases Final List of Candidates for Legislative Elections Archived 2015-05-29 at the Wayback Machine Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Watch, 19 May 2015
  17. Haiti – FLASH : Final list of approved candidates Haiti Libre, 15 May 2015
  18. "Haiti – FLASH : The platform VERITE withdraws from elections". Haiti-Libre. September 9, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  19. "Haiti – News : Electoral Zapping..." Haiti-Libre. August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  20. "Haiti – FLASH : Complete results of the elections of August 9, 2015". HaitiLibre. August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  21. "Haiti – FLASH : Final results of the 1st round of legislative elections of August 9, 2015". Haiti-Libre. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  22. "Haiti – Elections : Official Changes in the electoral timetable". Haiti-Libre. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  23. "Haiti – FLASH : Results of the senatorial elections of October 25, 2015". Haiti-Libre. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  24. "Haiti – FLASH : Deputation, election results of October 25, 2015". Haiti-Libre. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  25. "Haiti – FLASH : Elections of December 27th postponed !". Haiti Libre. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  26. "Guy Philippe, former coup leader wanted by US, wins Haiti senate seat". The Guardian. Port-au-Prince. Reuters. December 5, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
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