Haiti's election violence leaves 2 dead
Two people have been killed during the long-delayed parliamentary polls in the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti amid political violence that forced a number of polling stations to close early.
Voter turnout was reported to be low during the Monday election, which was held after a four-year delay, as a number of polling stations in the capital Port-au-Prince were vandalized in the morning and 26 others had to close early due to persisting street violence.
Although the country’s National Police released no specific figures on the Election Day casualties, it did mention that over 130 people were detained and that officers had seized 23 firearms.
This is while the president of the nation’s Fusion Party, Edmonde Supplice Beauzile, announced that the son of a party supporter was killed in the town of Savanette in central Haiti without elaborating on the cause of death. She further added that two members of her party were also injured.
Meanwhile, the ruling PHTK Party also announced that one of its supporters was shot to death in the north of Haiti.
The parliamentary elections were Haiti’s first since President Michel Martelly came to power in 2011. The nation’s parliament was dissolved on January 13, 2015 after lawmakers' terms were not extended. The legislative chambers have remained empty since then.
More than 1,800 candidates from 128 registered parties were competing for 139 seats in the two legislative houses. Sunday was the first of three election days before the end of the year.
The country, which remains the poorest in the Americas, suffers from chronic instability and continues to struggle in efforts to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and virtually destroyed the nation's infrastructure.
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