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Martelly leaves office with Haiti in crisis

Haitian President Michel Martelly greets supporters as he departs the Parliament after delivering his farewell speech on February 7, 2016 in Port-au-Prince/AFP

Haitian President Michel Martelly greets supporters as he departs the Parliament after delivering his farewell speech on February 7, 2016 in Port-au-Prince/AFP

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 8 – Michel Martelly ended his presidential term Sunday without handing power to a successor, in an electoral crisis highlighting Haiti’s long struggle to keep democracy on track in the 30 years since the Duvalier dictatorship ended.

Martelly was able to leave office thanks to a last-minute agreement hours before to install a transitional government after prolonged protests that sometimes turned violent.

“During its long road to the promised land, Haiti will remember that a certain Michel Joseph Martelly – Micky to his people – loved, gave, and built,” he said during his last address as president.

Speaking before lawmakers at parliament in French and Creole, the outgoing president thanked those who accompanied him during the five years of his mandate. He also defended his family against accusations of embezzlement.

But he also acknowledged that history “will recall my failures, for which I take sole responsibility, among them the delay of presidential elections.”

The electoral process was stopped after challenges from the opposition, which condemned an “electoral coup d’etat” masterminded by the executive power.

In the first round of presidential voting in October, Moise officially won 32.76 percent of the vote, to 25.29 percent for Celestin, who denounced those results as a “ridiculous farce.”

A second round of presidential and partial legislative elections, initially set for December 27, was postponed indefinitely, preventing Martelly from handing power to an elected successor on February 7 as required under the constitution.

The vote, a runoff between Martelly’s favoured candidate Jovenel Moise and opposition flag-bearer Jude Celestin, was called off following violence and opposition protests by demonstrators alleging that foul play had helped the government candidate take the first round.

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