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WORLD NEWSTuesday 2 February 2016

Haiti opposition alliance declining to meet with OAS mission

DAVID McFADDEN A demonstrator holds up a sign that reads in Creole “Martelly has to leave the power before Feb. 7, 2016” during a protest demand-
Associated Press ing the resignation of President Michel Martelly, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
— A Haitian opposition al- Associated Press
liance is declining to meet
with a regional mission that members of various politi- Group of Eight. the suspended electoral Recent violent protests
traveled to this troubled cal parties in the Senate. Officials say there appears process settled. stoked by the opposition
Caribbean nation to help Sanders described the to be a measure of con- Merten said he hopes Hai- and counter-protests or-
ease a political crisis that talks as constructive, “par- sensus emerging for a plan tian negotiators can soon ganized by Martelly’s party
has postponed elections ticularly because they are that would see Martelly find a “good solution that have ramped up tensions.
indefinitely. pointing toward a solution stepping down as sched- gives everybody something Haiti had been scheduled
Samuel Madistin, spokes- to the present difficulty.” uled Feb. 7, an interim gov- of what they want but that to hold a presidential and
man for the “Group of Haiti is a member of the ernment taking over and moves Haiti forward.” legislative runoff Jan. 24.
Eight” that includes sec- OAS. a runoff vote held within a Washington does not have But the now-splintered pro-
ond-place presidential Senate President Jocel- few months so an elected a desired outcome, he in- visional electoral council
candidate Jude Celestin, erme Privert, an opposition leader can take office. sisted. The U.S. wants Hai- canceled it for a second
asserted Monday that the lawmaker, has said officials Kenneth Merter, the U.S. tians to democratically time amid the protests and
Organization of American are trying to craft a work- State Department’s special decide on their next leader suspicion that the first round
States’ mission was “not able solution after review- coordinator for Haiti, told and “not to have a small was marred by widespread
welcome” and was “un- ing a number of plans for The Associated Press that group of people deciding fraud favoring Martelly’s
able to play any role as a the way forward, includ- he believes the vast major- the country’s fate,” Merten chosen candidate, Jove-
mediator.” ing one proposed by the ity of Haitians want to see said. nel Moise.q
“The OAS doesn’t help Hai-
ti come out of crisis. They
create more crisis,” Madis-
tin said, pointing to its role
in 2010 elections that saw
Celestin get eliminated
from a runoff after his re-
ported second-place finish
was challenged by foreign
observers complaining of
irregularities.
The OAS mission is head-
ed by Ronald Sanders, an
Antiguan diplomat who
is chairman of the Wash-
ington-based body’s per-
manent council. Members
arrived Sunday at the re-
quest of President Michel
Martelly, who is required to
leave office by Feb. 7 un-
der the Haiti’s constitution.
In a statement issued Tues-
day, Sanders said the OAS
group would “speak to as
many groups as possible”
in what he described as
a fact-finding mission that
would not “interfere, med-
dle or mediate” in Haitian
affairs. So far, they’ve met
with officials including Mar-
telly, the leaders of Haiti’s
bicameral legislature, and