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Haiti officials postpone vote set for this weekend

Haiti's President Michel Martelly gestures during an interview at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. Martelly defended Haiti’s elections and asserted that an October presidential round that put the government-backed candidate on top was a genuine reflection of the people’s will. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Haiti's President Michel Martelly gestures during an interview at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. Martelly defended Haiti’s elections and asserted that an October presidential round that put the government-backed candidate on top was a genuine reflection of the people’s will. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

By Associated Press December 21, 2015 1 min read

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Haitian electoral authorities have postponed presidential and legislative runoffs set for this weekend.

In a brief statement issued Monday evening, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council said the vote scheduled for Dec. 27 has been postponed until a special commission can make its recommendations.

In recent days, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti’s electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud.

Council spokesman Roudy Stanley Penn says a new election date should be announced soon.

For weeks, an opposition alliance has demanded an independent review of late October elections that it insists were rigged in favor of the government-backed presidential candidate.

The commission has been rejected by the opposition. Its members have not yet met.