Mr. Chairman,

1. I would like to convey the apologies of Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Albert Ramdin, who had intended to participate in this meeting today, but who is unable to do so due to the requirements of other professional duties. Ambassador Ramdin will, however, participate in the International Conference on Haiti in two days time in Brussels. The Assistant Secretary General has asked me to present the following statement on his behalf.

Honourable Gerard Latortue, Interim Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti,
Mr. Annabi, Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations,
Ambassadors and Colleagues:

2. The OAS applauds and thanks the United Nations for the holding of this meeting, which is taking place almost one month to the day after the September Core Group meeting which Prime Minister Latortue attended for the first time. We also salute Prime Minister Latortue’s presence, and his encouraging report.

3. At last September’s meeting, much of the discussion was focused on jump-starting a sluggish electoral process, and ten action points were identified as essential elements to keep the elections process on track. As we have heard, although much remains to be done and a final electoral calendar has yet to be announced and the elections officially convened, definitive progress has been made over the past few weeks on various of the most critical elements on the list.

4. In this regard, we would like to commend the interim Government’s efforts, and that of Prime Minister Latortue specifically, aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Provisional Electoral Council through the creation of a “Electoral Support Committee” and the naming of a new CEP Director General. Although these structures are new and must yet prove their impact through results, initial signs are encouraging. Likewise, the amendment of the electoral decree to streamline the electoral disputes process, the adoption of a public campaign finance decree and movement towards the creation of a Commission of Electoral Guarantees, are clearly steps in the right direction.

5. At the same time, we must recall the specific steps which remain to be concluded in an urgent fashion in order to keep the electoral process on track, among them, completing the decentralization of the CEP structure in the country by fully staffing and making operational the Communal Electoral Offices, providing the final candidate lists, and identifying the exact voting centers and polling stations to be used on voting days, an urgent task in order to be able to inform citizens where they will vote at the moment in which they go to pick up their identification card.
6. Also essential to elections preparations will be full integration of the voter registration and elections operations structures; it must be ensured that the significant investment in infrastructure, equipment and human resource training and deployment for registration be retained for the elections process. This will not only save money but will also save precious time, and provide for a smoother elections process overall, as experienced workers are retained in the system up until elections are completed, and some retained further yet, as part of a permanent electoral institution.


7. It is also imperative at this stage that a formal, final electoral calendar be published and the elections convened, in a framework which will allow the constitutional deadline of February 7th , 2006 for the transfer of presidential power to be upheld, and that the elections to be held be inclusive, transparent and uphold international standards. This will require the continuing determination and perseverance of the Haitian governmental and electoral authorities, as well as the unwavering support of the international community.

8. In this regard, the OAS takes the opportunity to re-affirm its solid support for the critical electoral process currently underway in Haiti. As you know, to date, the OAS has concentrated most of its support efforts to the CEP and to the elections process in the undertaking of the massive voter registration campaign and now, more specifically, in the production and distribution of the national identification cards.

9. Voter registration concluded throughout the country on October 15th, with the exception of an extension granted for the commune of Cite Soleil, given its late start there due to security difficulties, and targeted mobilization efforts to cover the final communal sections in the country which had been unreachable until now because of impassable roads and rivers occasioned by recent weather conditions. As official figures up to October 10th show 3.172 million Haitians registered, final estimates are between 3.2 and 3.3 million citizens who will be able to go to the polls on elections day. Over half a million ID cards have been delivered to Haiti, with more on the way every several days, and distribution has been initiated in a controlled and gradual fashion in a number of registration centers as distribution procedures are tested and refined. We commend the CEP for this achievement and thank our partners at MINUSTAH for the critical logistics support which made this exercise possible.

10. As the registration process reaches its final phases, the OAS reiterates its support for electoral process as a whole and confirms its willingness to continue supporting the preparation of good elections in accordance with the needs and the wishes of the Haitian authorities, and in close coordination with other international partners. We believe that a widening of the support to the election process by including sub-regional entities will strengthen the process and will add to the credibility of the election.

11. Regarding the on-going electoral preparations process, and taking into account the numerous delays and extensions which have characterized it, the OAS would highly recommend that at the Brussels meetings, a full review of the elections budget be conducted, not only to take into account the current budget deficit and the urgent need to eliminate it as well as on-going problems with “cash-flow”, but also to fully analyze the impact of the accumulated delays and modifications to the process, in order to make any necessary budget adjustments to reflect current realities and requirements.


12. Finally, as others have also indicated, it is critical for the international community at this stage to not only focus on supporting the on-going electoral process, important in its own right, but also to not delay in making specific and unequivocal commitments to the larger democratization and economic, social and security modernization efforts that are essential for the longer-term. In this regard, the OAS would like to express its full commitment to mobilizing inter-American resources and contributing strongly to the longer-term economic, social and political stabilization and consolidation processes in Haiti, in strong partnership with our Haitian and international counterparts and interlocutors, an area which we hope can be fully explored and coordinated in the upcoming Brussels meetings.


13. I would like to conclude by once again thanking the conveners for hosting this timely meeting, and hope that we can all progress further in discussing and taking action on critical issues of shared concern at the upcoming Brussels events.