Aerial view of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, pictured on March 20, 2014 /AFP
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jun 11 – The Haitian government announced that legislative elections will be held in October, three years behind schedule amid a slow earthquake recovery process and gargantuan logistical woes.
The election delay also has fueled the anti-government demonstrations which have rocked the Americas’ poorest country.
The first round of voting for 112 deputies and 20 senators is scheduled for October 16, a presidential spokesman said on national television on Tuesday. The date for the second round will be set by the electoral board.
Thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Port-au-Prince Tuesday calling for the resignation of President Michel Martelly and his chief of staff Laurent Lamothe, before police broke up the demonstration.
Four years after a devastating January 2010 earthquake, the deeply impoverished nation is still struggling to recover from the widespread devastation that killed 250,000 people.
The tragedy originally left about a million people homeless.
Four years on, nearly 200,000 people are still living in dire conditions in temporary shelters, and residents complain of having received little help since most NGOs left the country. Donors pledged billions in aid, much of which has not materialized.
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