04 January 2017•Update: 05 January 2017
By Senabri Silvestre
SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep.
Banana producer Jovenel Moise was officially confirmed Tuesday as the winner of Haiti’s long-drawn-out presidential election, ending more than a year of constitutional uncertainty.
The 48-year-old easily avoided a second ballot by winning 55.60 percent of the votes in the Nov. 20 first round, according to Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP).
The result was ratified hours after a Haitian electoral court dismissed allegations of fraud denounced by three of the 27 candidates that challenged the preliminary results of the rerun of the 2015 vote, which showed Moise as the winner.
The declaration of Haiti's new president "represents a positive step for the full restoration of Haiti's democratic institutions", the U.S. Department of State said in a statement, promising cooperation with the new administration.
The agricultural entrepreneur, nominated in 2015 by former President Michel Martelly to lead the ticket of Tet Kale Party, promised to launch a new history of making politics in Haiti and governing for all citizens.
"We will write a positive story so that future generations feel proud," he said at a press conference held Tuesday night.
Moise replaces interim President Jocelerme Privert, who led the nation after Martelly left office in February without a successor.
The presidential election of Oct. 25, 2015 was canceled last summer by an independent commission due to allegations of fraud.
It was re-scheduled after Hurricane Matthew left utter destruction in its wake in October, killing more than 546 and directly affecting about 1.4 million Haitians.
