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Angry Haitian citizens rioting in protest of the presidential election results announced yesterday aren’t the only ones calling out the country’s electoral council. Even the American Embassy in Haiti has issued a statement questioning the results.

The overwhelming popular opinion in Haiti this morning is that the results were rigged to put candidate Jude Celestin, handpicked by current president Rene Preval, in the second run-off position over singer Michel Martelly.

Protests erupted in Haiti today after electoral authorities announced that President René Préval’s handpicked successor would advance to a run-off election.

Sporadic gunfire and barricades greeted an announcement that Jude Celestin, a government-backed technocrat, had won enough votes in the 28 November vote to stand in next month’s second round vote.

He will face a former first lady, Mirlande Manigat, who was given 31.37% of the vote, ahead of Celestin, who in a crowded field came second with 22.48%. A run-off is mandated if no one wins more than 50% in first ballot.

The US embassy in Port-au-Prince issued a swift, strongly-worded statement questioning whether the results were consistent with “the will of the Haitian people”.

Celestin pipped a singer and musician, Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly, who was widely expected to make it into the second round, prompting immediate protests from Martelly supporters who said their man was robbed.

Flaming barricades were set up in the neighbourhood where the tallies were announced after a day of delay and tension. “If they don’t give us Martelly and Manigat (in the second round), Haiti will be on fire,” one protester, Erick Jean, told AP. “We’re still living under tents and Celestin wastes money on election posters.”

Evidence of widespread fraud, intimidation and confusion put a question mark over last month’s poll and the credibility of the Provisional Electoral Council, which many consider an instrument of Preval.

The outgoing president, who could not stand again, backed Celestin. His well-funded campaign covered the quake-battered country in bright yellow posters but Preval’s unpopularity appeared to damage his protege.

The National Observation Council, an election watchdog financed by the European Union, was among several groups which said Celestin would – if votes were honestly counted – be eliminated.

The US embassy statement expressed “concern” that last night’s preliminary result was “inconsistent” with findings from the watchdog as well as domestic and international observers. Full official results are due at the end of this month.

Martelly, a political outsider previously best known for bawdy lyrics, was given 21.84%, less than 1%, or 6,800 votes, behind Celestin. The singer made no immediate response and cancelled a press conference for security reasons but he previously warned of uproar if the president’s candidate made it into the second round.

Some foreign diplomats floated the idea of allowing three candidates in the second-round if results in the first were tight.

SMH. This is the last thing Haiti needs right now. The economy is due to take a major hit from all of this protest. The city of Port-au-Prince is basically shut down, with people unable to get to work due to burning barricades in the streets and fear of the violence. Even the airport has reportedly been shut down.

Not to mention the lives at risk.

Check out a video report from Port-Au-Prince last night.

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