Observers praise Haiti vote, urge transparent count

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – The international  community gave its blessing yesterday to Haiti’s presidential  run-off and urged Haitians to calmly wait for the first results  due next week to ensure a credible, transparent outcome.
Despite scattered incidents of violence which killed at  least two people, voting on Sunday went off peacefully in  general in the Caribbean state, one of the world’s poorest,  where elections are often marred by unrest.
The United Nations, the European Union and observers from  the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community  all hailed the second round run-off vote as a major improvement  over the turbulent first round held on Nov. 28.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated Haiti on  “the successful conduct” of Sunday’s elections.
Official preliminary results from the presidential run-off  between singer Michel Martelly and former first lady Mirlande  Manigat are due on March 31, with definitive results after  resolution of legal challenges to be announced on April 16.
The long wait for results has raised fears that impatience  and early victory claims in the candidates’ camps could trigger  street protests and clashes in the volatile country, which is  struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake last year.
Haiti’s electoral authorities have banned public  demonstrations by the candidates’ parties and supporters until  official results are announced.
The most recent opinion polls have shown shaven-headed  Martelly, 50, a political newcomer and star of Haiti’s Konpa  carnival music who had campaigned on an energetic promise of  change, leading by several percentage points over his more  experienced rival Manigat, a 70-year-old law professor.