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| Haitian Election to Produce Reliable Govt -UN Spokesman |
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The general elections scheduled for February 7 in Haiti will produce a legitimate government which the international community will recognize and can have dialogue with, said a UN spokesman on Saturday. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua at the UN headquarters in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, David Wimhurst, spokesman for the UN mission in Haiti, said that Haiti's problem today is the problem of development, explaining that Haiti lacks water resources, has insufficient power supply, and has an illiterate rate as high as 65 percent, with an incomplete legal system and a high crime rate. Therefore, the country needs financial assistance by the International community to solve these problems, said Wimhurst. An legally elected government can ensure the effective usage of the assistance provided by the international society for the country, said Wimhurst, adding that the general election is not the end, but an important step of the Caribbean country's development process. After the elections, the Haitian government and people will have a lot to do in order to strip off poverty and backwardness, stressed Wimhurst. At present, the UN mission's primary task is to ensure the smooth running of the presidential,legislative and provincial elections in Haiti, all scheduled for February 7, he stressed. "People will see a lot of soldiers and a lot of police around to make sure people know the election is going to go smoothly," Wimhurst said. Some 9,000 UN force of soldiers and police have been deployed around the capital of Port-au-Prince and other areas to keep order and ensure the safety of voters as well as transport and safeguard sensitive election-related materials and data, said the UN official. About 36,000 people are now preparing for the election and their efforts are enough to ensure fair, democratic and transparent elections. Commander of the UN Police Force Graham Muir told Xinhua on the same day that Chinese UN policemen will be in charge of the security at the building where results of the presidential and legislative elections will be tabulated on election day. After four year's delay, Haiti will hold its on Tuesday the first election since Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ousting two years ago, which is being contested by 33 presidential hopefuls. If no one wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will face off in a March 19 runoff. Nearly 3.5 million eligible voters have registered for the coming presidential and legislature polls. (Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2006) |
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