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.
After the results, supporters of Moise danced to a band in a middle-class neighborhood in the capital.
Earlier, Fanmi Lavalas protesters marched through various neighborhoods, and police blocked attempts to burn tires. The result appears unlikely to quell the unrest.
Full Article: Businessman Moise wins Haiti election in first round: provisional results | Reuters.
