Haiti delays presidential runoff again in electoral dispute

A presidential runoff that had already been delayed once and faced deep public skepticism was put on hold indefinitely, as Haiti's leaders sought to negotiate a resolution to what threatens to become a constitutional crisis, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

The Provisional Electoral Council decided to postpone Sunday's vote because there is "too much violence throughout the country," council president Pierre-Louis Opont said at a news conference.

In recent days, a number of election offices across the impoverished nation have been burned and the capital has been rocked by violent opposition protests calling for a halt to the runoff.

The council did not set a new date for the vote. It also did not say whether an interim government would take power after Feb. 7, when President Michel Martelly is required to leave office under the Constitution, or if he would remain until a replacement is elected.

Protests have grown increasingly violent in recent days, prompting the council to conclude it was too risky to try to hold the vote.

Haiti has only a shaky handle on security even with the assistance of troops and police from a UN peacekeeping force that has been in the country since a 2004 uprising ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Source: MENA