Haiti’s presidential run-off: Candidate profile

Former first lady Mirlande Manigat, who topped the first round of Haiti’s troubled November election, is aiming to be the Caribbean country’s first female president.

A leading opposition candidate of the Assembly of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP), Manigat has made fighting corruption one of the key planks of her campaign. On the day of the vote she condemned the ballot’s lack of transparency, claiming widespread voting irregularities had taken place.

“I’ve received lots of calls from everywhere. All the radio stations throughout the country are talking about massive organised fraud,” Manigat said.

She was elected a senator in 1988, the same year her husband, Leslie Manigat became president. However, their stay in the presidential palace would be brief. Both were forced to flee four months later after a military coup.

A graduate of the Sorbonne in Paris, the 70 year old has also made education a centrepiece of her government plan, calling for a nationwide literacy programme.

Manigat has presented her age and experience as an asset, dismissing question marks over her strength and energy to lead Haiti. Despite initially joining several other candidates to have November’s vote annulled, she quickly did a U-turn amid reports she had polled well.

“We had a lot of meetings, discussions and I came to realise that the solution for the country is not the cancellation of the elections,” Manigat said.

Nevertheless, within days of the vote, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince calling for the election to be cancelled.

Up against Manigat in January’s run-off is Jude Celestin. Practically unknown before the start of the electoral campaign, the 48 year-old is the ruling ‘Inite’ party’s candidate and the protege of outgoing president Réné Préval. An engineer and technocrat Celestin headed Haiti’s infrastructure and public works projects during Preval’s two terms in office.

In charge of road-clearing and rebuilding, his profile was catapulted in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake.

Despite facing criticism for the government’s slow response to the disaster, Celestin has presented himself as the man to rebuild Haiti. However, his rivals have criticised his high-profile poster and bill-board campaign, alleging state funds have been diverted to finance his run for the presidency.

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