UN Haiti envoy hails parliamentary elections while denouncing violent incidents

The senior United Nations envoy to Haiti has hailed parliamentary elections in the country as a major step towards consolidating democracy while decrying clashes that resulted in the closure of three voting centres.

“I am very satisfied with the way these elections have been held,” said Juan Gabriel Valdés, head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which worked with the National Police to provide electoral security.

Voters cast ballots at 804 voting centres to elect 27 senators and 83 deputies on Friday. As expected, participation was lower than the first round of elections, when René Préval was elected president, the mission reported.

Mr. Valdés hailed Haitians for completing the process, saying they have “restored democracy to Haiti.”

But he also noted that disturbances in Grande Saline and Grand'Anse had resulted in three voting centres being closed. “It is very regrettable that local confrontations between political groups have prevented voting in some places,” he said. “Recourse to violence dishonours the genuine national aspiration for real democracy.”