AFP - The Haitians had to go to the polls Sunday for the second round of presidential elections that must decide the singer Michel Martelly and intellectual Mirlande Manigat.
More than three months after a first round that was almost canceled due to fraud, the second round could take place in some confusion after the triumphant return Friday in Haiti of former President Jean Aristide, who worries the West.
This introduces an additional unknown back in the already complex equation of Haitian politics, many supporters of Mr.Aristide likely to boycott the polls.
The other unknown factor remains the participation of some 800,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps after the earthquake that devastated the city and its province January 12, 2010.
Also returned to Haiti in the inter-turn after 25 years of exile in France, the former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier had complicated the political game.He is pursued by the Haitian justice for corruption and endorsed by several complaints of crimes against humanity.
According to a poll released last Thursday, Michel Martelly, right-wing populist better known by his stage name "Sweet Micky", would win on Sunday with 53.4% of the vote against 46.6% only to Ms. Manigat.
The former first lady aged 70 years could not pronounce her last Friday night campaign speech because of a blackout during his last campaign rally in Port-au-Prince.
Participation is notoriously weak in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, and makes any predictions very difficult: only 23% of registered voters had moved in the first round, Nov. 28, to decide the initial 18 candidates.
In a country without an army and controlled by UN peacekeepers, the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon expressed hope Saturday that the vote takes place "in a calm and peaceful."
Preliminary results will be announced March 31 and final results on April 16. The roughly 4.7 million voters must also choose their senators and deputies Sunday.
The first round results announced in early December had resulted in violence that left several dead.
