Council Postpones Runoff Elections

Accused of vote-rigging in favor of ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s party, Haiti’s elections council decided to indefinitely postpone a weekend parliamentary runoff ballot. Most parties had planned to boycott Sunday’s second-round vote, contending that first-round results in April were manipulated. Despite U.S. pressure, the council said nothing about correcting alleged first-round irregularities. Postponing Sunday’s vote, it said, would provide more time for dialogue with boycotting parties. The elections council considered, but decided against, resigning en masse.