Haiti Elections-Clinton, Winner, Loser

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President Bill Clinton - UN Special Envoy on Haiti -, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and outgoing Haiti President Rene Perval briefed the United Nations Security Council on the recovery effort and the recent elections.

William Jefferson Clinton, United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti:
“You are not just helping Haiti here, if you support the plan, you may be helping the developing countries of the world to imagine a whole different way of building sustainable economies. It could be relevant to Africa, it could be relevant to South East Asia, it could be relevant to all kinds of places. And it is really important that we do it in a way that empowers both local communities as well as the national Government.”

In Haiti, the two candidates held their own post election briefing.The winner and next President, former singer Michel Martelly committed to continued cooperation with the UN led efforts at rebuilding. He also though emphasized his previous promise to have the UN presence leave Haiti ASAP.

the losing candidate, former first lady Mirlande Manigot, (who had apparently garnered most votes during the first round) sounded an angry note by claiming: "Until yesterday morning, it was well known to all that I had won the presidential elections. This is the first time that I have seen how money, corruption, threats were used to give this results. This is the first time I have seen a robbery of this kind in the political situation in Haiti."

Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts

Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, President of the Republic of Colombia:
“In months to come a new Government will be installed in the island, and this will constitute an ideal opportunity to reorganize our cooperation with Haiti and our contribution to its sustainable development, because peace is not built by increasing dependency on aid.”
5. Med shot, delegate
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“The people of Haiti are looking to the next Government and parliament to deliver. As a signal of its commitment to change, the incoming parliament should complete the process of amending the constitution before the next president is inaugurated. The international community must also seize this opportunity to make a fresh start. Assistance should empower Haitian actors and institutions, not prolong their dependency.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) William Jefferson Clinton, United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti:
“You are not just helping Haiti here, if you support the plan, you may be helping the developing countries of the world to imagine a whole different way of building sustainable economies. It could be relevant to Africa, it could be relevant to South East Asia, it could be relevant to all kinds of places. And it is really important that we do it in a way that empowers both local communities as well as the national Government.”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (French) René Garcia Préval , President of the Republic of Haiti:
“The 31st of March 2010, here at the UN, significant assistance resources for our reconstruction were promised by the international community. The IHRC, as President Clinton has referenced, has moved forward. I would ask for donors to act more quickly in their disbursements because in spite of the courage and the patience of the people of Haiti, patience does have its limits.”
11. Zoom in Security Council
12. Med shot, Clinton, Santos and Préval arrive at the stakeout position
13. Med shot, camera
14. SOUNDBITE (English) William Jefferson Clinton, United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti:
“We need more support for building the capacity of the Haitian Government in police and in fighting the narco-traffickers. And the United States, because we are a big purchaser, has a special responsibility in that regard and I will try to see that we do as much as possible.”
15. Med shot, camera
16. Zoom out, Clinton, Santos and Préval shake hands
17. Various shots, Préval meeting with the Secretary-General

STORYLINE:

The Security Council held an open debate today (6 April) to discuss the situation of Haiti as the Caribbean nation and its international partners are looking to consolidate progress following last month’s elections.

The meeting was convened by Colombia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council for April.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón opened the debate and said that as a new Government is installed, it will be “an ideal opportunity” to reorganize the international community’s cooperation with Haiti and its sustainable development, pointing out that “peace is not built by increasing dependency on aid.”

According to preliminary results, popular musician Michel Martelly defeated former first lady Mirlande Manigat to take the presidency.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking to the Council, pledged the continued assistance of the United Nations for Haiti, which, while having made significant gains in recent months, still faces a number of daunting challenges such as reviving its crippled economy and strengthening the rule of law.

He said that he international community must “seize this opportunity to make a fresh start” and stressed the need for the incoming parliament to complete the process of amending the constitution before the next president is inaugurated.

He added that “assistance should empower Haitian actors and institutions, not prolong their dependency.”

Ban commended the people of Haiti for this important step towards the consolidation of democracy, adding that it builds on the gains it has made, with the support of the UN peacekeeping mission there (MINUSTAH), towards security, respect for basic freedoms and an end to the state-sponsored violence.

He also commended outgoing President René Garcia Préval for his leadership and valuable contribution in building his country amid difficult challenges, including last year’s devastating earthquake, noting that recovery and reconstruction are slowly gathering momentum.

Also addressing the Council, former United States President Bill Clinton, who serves as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Haiti, reported on the progress made by the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC), a panel on which he serves along with Haitian Government officials, the UN and other international partners.

Clinton told the Council that by supporting IHRC’s plan, nations are not “just helping Haiti” but “may be helping the developing countries of the world to imagine a whole different way of building sustainable economies.”

He also said that the reconstruction should be done “in a way that empowers both local communities as well as the national Government.”

More than 20 per cent of the estimated 10 million cubic metres of rubble have been removed in the past year. In addition, the number of earthquake-affected people living in camps has decreased from more than 1.5 million in July last year to 680,000 today.

So far the Commission has approved more than 87 projects – valued at $3.26 billion – that when completed will help an estimated 2 million Haitians.

President Préval told the Council that a year ago, “significant assistance resources for our reconstruction were promised by the international community”, but asked donors “to act more quickly in their disbursements because in spite of the courage and the patience of the people of Haiti, patience does have its limits.”

Outside the Council, Presidents Clinton, Santos and Préval spoke to journalists and the former US President noted that the Haitian Government needs “more support” for building the national police capacity in fighting narco-traffickers. He added that the United States, as a “big purchaser”, has a special responsibility in that regard.


The United Nations peacekeeping operation in Haiti (MINUSTAH) today (5 Apr) welcomed the release of the preliminary results of the country’s presidential and legislative elections and urged Haitians to continue to show patience and calm in the lead-up to the release of final results.

The popular musician Michel Martelly defeated former first lady Mirlande Manigat in last month’s run-off round of the presidential race, according to figures released yesterday by Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council.

In his acceptance speech, Martelly said that he will be “the President of all Haitians without distinction” and will work together with The UN mission (MINUSTAH) “in terms of security and development.”

He also said that, as promised during his presidential campaign, he will cooperate with MINUSTAH in formulating its exit strategy.

He called on the Haitian people ”to make this day, a special day” and “stop thinking about yourself, but start thinking about your community and your country, so that together we can move forward.”

Defeated presidential candidate and former first lady Mirlande Manigat, at another press conference, called the results declaring Martelly as a winner “a robbery of this kind in the political situation in Haiti."

MINUSTAH issued a press statement in which it “salutes the fact that Haitian political actors welcomed this announcement with maturity, demonstrating their wish to respect the voice of the people and the democratic process.”

According to MINUSTAH, the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have been relatively calm since the announcement of the results, with no major incidents reported so far.

Violence erupted last December after Martelly supporters challenged the initial results of the first round of the presidential election, which placed him third – and therefore out of the run-off round – behind Manigat and another candidate, Jude Celestin.

The Provisional Electoral Council re-examined the ballots and amended the results, placing Martelly second to Manigat in the first round.

In today’s statement, MINUSTAH praised Haitians for showing so much patience and calm in recent weeks and urged them to continue to do so when the final results are released on 18 April.

The mission added that any candidates in the presidential or legislative elections who dispute the preliminary results should pursue their claims in line with the provisions of Haiti’s electoral laws.

Haitians went to the polls after a year in which they were battered by a massive earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left at least 2.3 million others homeless. A subsequent cholera epidemic killed another 4,000 people.

Directors:

• Mo Sacirbey UNTV

Producers:

• Susan Sacirbey