Haiti's Election is Here.

After months of hype Haitians will go to the polls on November 28th to choose their next President. As I'm sure you can imagine there is really just one issue in Haitian politics at the moment. How best to rebuild the country after January's earthquake.

It is a bitter irony then that the election itself has delayed and will continue to delay the reconstruction efforts. Even without Wyclef Jean there are 19 individual candidates for the Presidency. This vast choice coupled with and expected low voter turn out due to the country's Cholera epidemic and the general post-'quake chaos mean that there is expected to be no clear winner. Instead Haiti will have to once again hold it's breath and wait until January 15th for a run-off vote between the two most popular candidates.

Mirlande Manigat. The wife of ex-President Leslie Manigat who was deposed in the 1988 coup that led to the introduction of Haiti's constitution it is no surprise that the main plank of Mrs Manigat's campaign is to do away with the constitution that did away with her husband. Educated in Paris in the late 1960's and a founder member of Haiti's Assembly of Progressive National Democrats (RNDP) Party Mirlande Manigat is a career Marxist theorist who has published many books on women's rights, international relations and political reform. An ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez the main aim of the RNDP are to bring the variety of international aid agencies in the country under government control and increase the role of the state in what passes for an economy in Haiti.

Jude Celestin. A 48 year bachelor with limited social skills Jude Celestin is the ultimate technocratic nerd. With an advanced degree in mechanical engineering from Switzerland Celestin has pretty much dedicated his life to his career. He is the founder and until recently the head of Haiti's National Centre for Equipment (CNE) which provides trucks and heavy machinery that were essential in clearing up the rubble and burying the dead after the earthquake. A member of the governing Unity Party (INITE) Celestin has the endorsement of the successful, but not that popular, outgoing President Rene Preval. His main aims are to continue Preval's good work by working with international aid agencies and the UN to attract money and talent to help build a better future for Haiti.

Although a certain level of corruption has to be expected in Haitian politics the candidate that worries me most is Mirlande Manigat. Her Marxist agenda is going to terrify potential aid donors and make it near impossible for the Haitian government to work with international development bodies like the UN and the World Bank. Also her links to Hugo Chavez mean that her election as President pretty much guarantees that Haiti will receive no further help from the United States.

Plus I have also heard strong rumours that the RNDP caused the recent rioting by spreading the lie that MINUSTAH caused Haiti's Cholera outbreak. This was done to damage the election chances of INITE who have strong links with MINUSTAH and the UN. Those riots killed ten people, stopped aid flights arriving on the island and prevented thousands of people receiving medical treatment for Cholera. Any political party or Presidential candidate that is prepared to do something like that to win power simply does not deserve to be elected because they clearly don't have Haiti's best interests at heart.

So if I was able to vote I would vote for Jude Celestin.