Martelly 'Wins' Haiti Runoff Election-Al Jazeera http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/martelly-wins-haiti-runoff-election-al-jazeera Posted: March 21, 2011 - 19:20 Posted by siteadmin caption: Michel Martelly By Al Jazeera Partial results indicate popular entertainer victorious in quake-stricken country's presidential polls. Michel Martelly, a singer and entertainer, may have triumphed in Haiti's presidential elections, according to recently released partial results. Tally sheets read out on local media on Monday, showed Martelly was well ahead of his rival, former first lady Mirlande Manigat, in key urban areas including Petionville and the Cite Soleil slum in the capital Port-au-Prince. Even before voting stations closed on Sunday, Martelly supporters were triumphantly taking to the streets, but there has been no claim of victory from the candidate and final results are not expected until April 16. Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker, reporting from Port-au-Prince, said that martelly supporters had begun celebrating what they saw as a victory for the candidate. Known to fans by his former stage name "Sweet Micky," the 50-year-old Martelly staged a campaign built on the promise that he would dramatically transform Haiti's notoriously corrupt and violent politics. There had been fears that Sunday's runoff, delayed for months by bickering over a violence-plagued first round in November, would be overshadowed by the return from exile of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But Aristide honoured a commitment not to upset the delicate political situation and voting was largely peaceful in the Caribbean nation whose recent past has been scarred by dictatorship and violent upheaval. The candidates are vying for the job of rebuilding a nation beset by problems, from endemic poverty and corruption to the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake, and a cholera epidemic that has claimed almost 5,000 lives since mid-October. Pre-election opinion polls showed Martelly enjoying a slim lead over Manigat, but experts warned that such forecasts are unreliable. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies ____________________ "La vraie reconstruction d'Haïti passe par des réformes en profondeur des structures de l'État pour restaurer la confiance, encourager les investisseurs et mettre le peuple au travail. Il faut finir avec cette approche d'un État paternaliste qui tout en refusant de créer le cadre approprié pour le développement des entreprises mendie des millions sur la scène internationale en exhibant la misère du peuple." Cyrus Sibert Reconstruction d'Haïti : A quand les Réformes structurelles? Haïti : La continuité du système colonial d'exploitation  prend la forme de monopole au 21e Siècle. WITHOUT REFORM, NO RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN HAITI (U.S. Senate report.)