Haitian President Michel Martelly, aka “Sweet Micky” as he was known when he was a singer, is managing a contentious election with allegations of fraud. Martelly’s successor is still unknown since elections were held in October and he has now postponed the country’s runoff election.
The two leading candidates did not receive enough votes to win outright and must now face one another in a runoff. Both candidates come from business backgrounds, Jovenel Moise manages agricultural exports and Jude Celestin ran the country’s construction firm.
Moise has the support of the country’s current president who has established an independent commission to figure out what is wrong with the country’s electoral system. Moise got 33 percent of the vote while Celestin got 25 percent.
When elections were held in October, they were for the most part peaceful. However in November, there were protests when the first round of the election results were announced.
Ever since Haiti endured the devastating 2010 earthquake, it has received a great deal of aid from the international community. Since the earthquake, USAID which manages US government aid, has set aside $4 billion for Haiti. Of the $4 billion, $3.1 billion has been has been disbursed to Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
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