PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Two top candidates in Haiti’s disputed presidential election are rejecting a proposed recount, threatening to torpedo a compromise aimed at quelling days of riots and violence over allegations the vote was rigged, their campaigns said Saturday.
The snub by No. 1 finisher Mirlande Manigat and by third-place Michel Martelly leaves the impoverished nation dangerously volatile, with much of the population rejecting the officially announced outcome of the Nov. 28 election and many willing to protest with violence.
Only the ruling-party candidate, Jude Celestin, supports the electoral council’s offer to retabulate tally sheets from thousands of polling stations around the Caribbean nation.
Blockades and rock-throwing continued in a few areas, but violence had largely subsided in most parts of the capital by Saturday.
Many people rushed to reopened markets to stock up on food, water, fuel and other supplies in fear that more protests could erupt again.
Manigat, a law professor and former first lady, had 31 percent of the vote in the official preliminary count and is all but guaranteed a spot in a Jan. 16 runoff between the top two finishers.
She rejected the recount because the electoral council failed to propose clear procedures or a timetable, her campaign said in a statement issued Friday. She said she was open to other initiatives to settle the crisis.
Martelly finished a few thousand votes behind Celestin and would be eliminated from a runoff if the current results stand. His supporters have led many of the protests that paralyzed the capital for most of the week, and he joined many of the other 18 candidates in denouncing the election as rigged well before the polls closed.
“We cannot accept a recount by the very same group that manipulated the elections in the first place,” Martelly said Saturday. He said a fair count would show that he placed first.
Celestin’s campaign also claims the result was botched, saying he finished first rather than second. Sen. Joseph Lambert, who heads his campaign, told The Associated Press on Saturday that they “accept the recount process (to ensure) the transparency of the system.”
Everyone agrees the election had widespread problems. The nation struggled even before a January earthquake and a deadly cholera epidemic.
