Haiti installs elections commisison

Haiti Prime Minister Evans Paul late Tuesday installed a new five-member electoral evaluation commission in an effort to break an electoral impasse that has lasted almost two months.

Paul wished the commissioners good luck before saying, “this is not the executive’s commission.”

Paul insisted that the commission is independent.

“We all have the responsibility to preserve the image” of Haiti, Paul said in an address carried live on Haitian media.

The commission was sworn-in after lengthy negotiations over the terms of reference. Two members were substituted for a representative of the Protestant Federation, engineer Armand Louis and human rights defender Gedeon Jean, an attorney. Jean is a member of a coalition that observed the Aug. 9 and Oct. 25 elections.

The other three members include Catholic Monsignor Patrick Aris; Euvonie Georges Auguste of the Vodou sector and professor and electoral observer Rosny Desroches.

Rather than three days, the commission will have a week to provide recommendations to the government and Provisional Electoral Council.

The government and several opposition parties have been feuding over the results of the Oct. 24 presidential elections. Opposition have called for a commission to review the votes.

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Haiti installs elections commisison."