Politics, Passions, Opinions

My analysis reflects no one’s opinion but my own and makes no claim to prophetic revelation. It is simply my political insights and social and spiritual assessment.

Key players:
Celestin – represents status quo as the son in law of the current president. His political party UNITY is the establishment.

Manigat – her late husband was democratically elected president in 1988 and served four months before a military coup deposed him. She is 70 years old but represents change and diplomacy.

Matelly – a wildcard in the election, a pop music singer and celebrity, represents the anti-establishment and unknown transition.

The results announced last night had no candidate had achieved 50% of the vote required to win. Manigat led with >30%, Celestin had >20% as did Matelly, less than 1% behind or about 6800 votes. The commission interpreted narrowly and announced a mid-January run-off between Manigat and Celestin.

The electoral process allows for 72 hours for candidates to protest. Matelly and Celestin have reportedly already lodged appeals, which will then be reviewed and ruled on Dec 20.

Meanwhile, demonstrators allegedly lit the UNITE party headquarters of Celestin on fire. There are many dubious unverified reports of violence, but this was apparently witnessed by AP journalists.

Some people are looking for any reason for violence – politics, cholera, poverty. I don’t minimize these concerns and crises. But the reaction is an inappropriate response.

I believe once there is clarity in the process forward, the violence will subside – at least for the time being.

The people of Haiti are crying out for help. They want help to feed their families. They want a hope and a future. They need Jesus. It is not my place to endorse a candidate, but I do believe (strongly) that a new government has a potential for change that will not occur with the ruling party.

I anticipate that our team will have safety to operate in Haiti until our return. While here we will continue a vigilant day-to-day & moment-by-moment supervision of our Christ centered outreach to Haiti.