PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haitians have chosen banana exporter Jovenel Moise as their next president, provisional results released by the election council on Monday showed, with the political novice winning a majority and avoiding a second round runoff. Moise won 55.67 percent of the vote in the Nov. 20 election, the electoral council said, a majority that means the impoverished Caribbean nation will avoid a runoff and a political void, so long as the losing candidates do not contest the result. “We want to salute the maturity of the Haitian people,” said Leopold Berlanger, president of the election council, which organized the vote weeks after a devastating hurricane hit the country. The results follow a week of protests and unrest led by supporters of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas Party, which claimed victory for its candidate, Maryse Narcisse, soon after the election. Since Feb. 15, 2016, a provisional government led by Jocelerme Privert has been running the country following the conclusion of the term of former President Michel Martelly without the election of a successor, leading to a political crisis. Although turnout was very low and critics charged there had been instances of fraud, electoral observers said the vote had been acceptable. He also said the political uncertainty of the past year had compromised economic and political development, referring to the $55 million that Haiti spent without assistance from the international community.
The Haitian national electoral commission promises to release results of the highly contested elections between the candidates Jovenel Moise of the Haitian Tèt Kale Party, Maryse Narcisse of the Fanmi Lavalas and Jude Célestin of the Alternative League for Haitian Progress and Emancipation.