Democracy in dark countries - Part III

Meanwhile, Haiti also had an election on Nov. 28. The campaign was marked by the unrest (pardon the euphemism) and violence which have characterized elections in Zimbabwe and Côte d'Ivoire -- see today's earlier posts. In

In this case, the unpopular outgoing president, René Préval, was constitutionally barred from succeeding himself, let alone declaring himself president for life. (That had been done before.) But he had a hand-picked successor, Jude Célestin, who might have been a shoe-in but for little problems like the botched earthquake relief effort, an outbreak of cholera and the presence of UN troops (the ones who shat in the drinking water) who were there to ensure the voting could take place in circumstances of calm and fairness.

Candidates other than M. Célestin included former first lady Mirlande Manigat and popular carnival singer [??? rap artist, surely! Ed.] Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly. Former Canadian Governor-General Michaëlle Jean somehow resisted pressure to run.

Not counting the 1000s of ballots found in gutters and garbage dumps, preliminary results of the voting had "Sweet Micky" second to Mme Manigat, with M. Célestin running a clsoe third. This presented a problem to the outgoing government, since the run-off election is supposed to be limited to the first- and second-place candidates only.

So guess what? A new result was announced. Célestin, it was said, had managed to pull ahead of Martelly at the last moment. Reaction of Micky's supporters was as swift as it was predictable.

Protesters set fire to the headquarters of Préval and Célestin's Unity party. Multiple fire trucks responded to the scene as flames licked the roof — an unusual scene in a country with few public services — but in late afternoon piles of charred campaign posters continued to smolder.

"We want Martelly. The whole world wants Martelly," said James Becimus, a 32-year-old protester. "Today we set fires, tomorrow we bring weapons." Other protesters said they would continue to mobilize but do so nonviolently.

For his part, "Sweet Micky" told his supporters yesterday afternoon to watch out for "infiltrators" who might try to incite violence. "Demonstrating without violence is the right of the people," he said. "I will be with you until the bald-head victory."

M. Préval, still president until the dust settles, had earlier urged the candidates to call off the protests. "This is not how the country is supposed to work," he said in a radio speech. "People are suffering because of all this damage."

Indeed. Haiti is not in Africa. It is, however, an African country which happens to find itself stranded on the other side of the Atlantic. All those involved in this farce are African, by which I mean black. Expect corruption, incompetence and chaos and you will not be disappointed.