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Nov 26, 2009 2:58 pm US/Eastern
Haiti Bans Aristide's Party From 2010 Election
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (CBS4) ―
Lavalas, the political party and social movement that provided the power base for exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has been banned by Haiti's electoral council from running in next year's legislative elections.
The council is blaming it on bureaucratic process. Fanmi Lavalas is among 17 parties barred from February's elections because it submitted improper documents, provisional council spokesman Richardson Dumesle said Thursday.
Aristide, who has been living in exile in South Africa after he was overthrown during a 2004 rebellion, called the decision "an electoral coup d'etat" in an interview late Wednesday with Haiti's Radio Metropole.
This is not the first time Lavalas has been prevented from participating in the electoral process. It was also was banned from the 2006 presidential elections and it boycotted Senate run-off elections in June after the council disqualified its candidates on a technicality.
Lavalas officials did not answer phone calls seeking comment on Thursday. The party is one of Haiti's largest, and has many supporters in South Florida's Haitian community.
Executive council head Maryse Narcisse told Radio Solidarite late Wednesday that she did not understand why the party was rejected.
The council approved 53 parties to run in the elections. They are now scheduled for Feb. 28, but might be postponed to coincide with presidential elections later in the year.
Parties can appeal rejections.
Haiti's legislature chose a new prime minister last week as tensions remain high over the presence of 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers, who arrived in the impoverished country after the 2004 rebellion.
Jean-Max Bellerive is the sixth prime minister to hold the post since 2004.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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