Haiti Presidential run-off to be held January 24

As Haiti, a Caribbean country struggles to meet February 7 constitutional deadline to inaugurate a new leader, President Michel Martelly on Wednesday announced that the delayed presidential run-off election will take place on January 24.

54 candidates contested the first round on October 25, 2015 but election authorities postponed a run-off scheduled for December 27.

Meanwhile, a representative of a commission formed by the government to evaluate election results, Rosny Desroche while releasing a report on Wednesday said a second round of voting was possible.

I strongly believe that if the commission proposed recommendations to continue with a second round of the presidential election process, then that means it can be saved.

Haiti Senator, Andrice Riche, said investigations carried out on the results of the election showed there were fraudulent votes.

“This report is very clear showing the elections of October 25, 2015, were extremely fraudulent. The report also recommended that a total recount should be done of the vote and a full re-evaluation of what took place,” he said.

Haiti: Presidential Election Run-Off Postponed: The final outcome of Haiti's presidental election will be… https://t.co/oYFzVQb3FM #news

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Haiti, a nation of about 10 million people, has struggled to build a stable democracy since the overthrow of the 1957 to 1986 dictatorship of the Duvalier family.

It is the poorest nation in North America since it was devastated by an earthquake in 2010. The country has relied largely on international donations and foreign aids from the United States and other countries.