| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Chambre des Députés / Chamber of Deputies |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Sénat / Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) (from/to) | 7 February 2006
3 December 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
The elections were the first to be held since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in February 2004. They were held for all seats in both chambers of the enlarged National Assembly: 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (up from 83); and 30 seats in the Senate (up from 27). The National Assembly stopped functioning in January 2004 when the terms of all Deputies and two-thirds of sitting Senators expired. General elections had previously taken place in May 2000. |
After numerous postponements
the first elections since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in February 2004 were held on 7 February 2006
at the same time as the presidential elections
for all seats in both chambers of the enlarged National Assembly. The former National Assembly had stopped functioning in January 2004 when the terms of all deputies and two-thirds of sitting senators expired. Since March 2004
the country had been headed by an interim government led by President Boniface Alexandre and Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.
In the last elections
which were held in 2000
the Lavalas Family Party won 72 of the 82 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and all seats in the Senate. The party was formed in 1996 by former President Aristide when he broke with the People's Struggle Party (OPL). The Organization of American States (OAS) withdrew its observers in the second round of voting in 2000
deeming that the results of the first round had been rigged in favour of the Lavalas Family Party.
More than 50 political parties were registered for the parliamentary elections in 2006. The leading party was Mr. René Préval's Front for Hope (Lespwa)
which was created by former members of the Lavalas Family Party. Mr. Préval
a former President (1996-2001) and long-time ally of Mr. Aristide
was a leading candidate in the presidential elections. He pledged to re-establish security and create jobs. The Lavalas Family Party was said to be a possible ally for Lespwa
whose main rivals were the Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party of Mr. Serge Gilles
the Democratic Alliance Party (Alyans) of former mayor of Port-au-Prince Mr. Evans Paul
and Mr. Paul Deniss OPL. All three had reportedly supported the removal of President Aristide from power in 2004.
Violence has been rife in this country of 8.5 million habitants
more than half of whom live on less than one dollar per day. Most political parties pledged to deal with security problems and promised to develop the country. The international community saw the elections as a first step towards the restoration of democracy. The then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said they were an opportunity to move towards a future of peace and stability.
The elections were held in the presence of over 9
000 United Nations personnel
including some 7
000 troops and 1
700 police officers. They were monitored by more than 200 international observers.
In the first round
held on 7 February 2006
about 60 per cent of roughly 3.5 million registered voters turned out for the polls. Voting was hampered by late poll openings
delays in distributing ballots and a shortage of election workers. Four people were reportedly killed on polling day in crowd crushes. Only two candidates for the Chamber of Deputies obtained the majority needed to win a seat.
In the presidential elections
Mr. Préval came in first with 48.8 per cent
short of the 50 per cent needed to be declared winner at the first round. After the vote
he claimed that the elections had been marred by massive fraud
and insisted that some 85
000 blank votes should be excluded from the official count. The discovery of voting bags and marked ballots in a garbage dump triggered a series of street protests by Mr. Préval's supporters. The United Nations Mission in Haiti spoke of an "apparent grave breach of the electoral process". Following these protests
the interim government and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) agreed to discard the blank votes
giving Mr. Préval 51.15 per cent of the votes
enough to be elected as the country's new president at the first round.
Run-offs for the parliamentary elections
originally scheduled for 19 March
were held on 21 April. Only 28.31 per cent of registered voters turned out.
Lespwa won the largest number of seats in both chambers
but failed to win an absolute majority.
After the election
two major parliamentary blocs were formed in the Chamber of Deputies: one comprised the Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party
Alyans and the OPL; the other
the Group of 30
consisted of Lespwa
the Lavalas Family Party and a number of small parties. A further 10 deputies from minority parties formed another loose parliamentary bloc.
At the first meeting of the new Parliament
held on 9 May 2006
27 of 30 senators and 82 of 99 deputies were sworn in. On 10 May 2006
the lower house elected Mr. Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques of Lespwa as Speaker. The following day
the Senate elected Mr. Joseph Lambert of the same party as its Speaker.
On 14 May 2006
Mr. René Préval was sworn in as the country's new President
officially ending Haiti's two-year political transition.
The election of six additional deputies was subsequently confirmed
leaving eleven seats in the Chamber of Deputies and three seats in the Senate vacant. Elections for these seats were finally held on 3 December 2006
at the same time as local elections. Lespwa remained the largest party in both chambers. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 7 February 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
3'533'430
60%
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Round no 2 | 21 April 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
3'533'430
28.31%
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 2
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Front for Hope (Lespwa) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Alliance Party (ALYANS) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Struggle Party (OPL) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Lavalas Family Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Union |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mobilization for Haiti's Development (MPH) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Latibonit Ann Aksyon (LAAA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Rally of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cooperative Action to Build Haiti (KONBA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Christian Movement for a New Haiti (MOCHRENA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| National Reconstruction Front (FRN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Movement for National Reconstruction (MRN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Party of Haiti (PLH) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Justice for Peace and National Development (JPDN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Haitian Democratic and Reform Movement (MODEREH) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Independent Movement for National Reconciliation (MIRN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Union of Nationalist and Progressive Haitians (UNITE) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tèt Ansanm Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 2
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Election 03.12.2006 |
|
|
|
| Front for Hope (Lespwa) |
22
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party |
16
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Democratic Alliance Party (ALYANS) |
11
|
1 |
|
|
|
| People's Struggle Party (OPL) |
10
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Lavalas Family Party |
6
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Union |
6
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Mobilization for Haiti's Development (MPH) |
4
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Latibonit Ann Aksyon (LAAA) |
4
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Rally of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP) |
4
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Cooperative Action to Build Haiti (KONBA) |
3
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Christian Movement for a New Haiti (MOCHRENA) |
3
|
2 |
|
|
|
| National Reconstruction Front (FRN) |
2
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Movement for National Reconstruction (MRN) |
1
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Liberal Party of Haiti (PLH) |
1
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Justice for Peace and National Development (JPDN) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Haitian Democratic and Reform Movement (MODEREH) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Independent Movement for National Reconciliation (MIRN) |
1
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Union of Nationalist and Progressive Haitians (UNITE) |
1
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Tèt Ansanm Party |
1
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
94
4
4.04%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Unknown
|
1
45
33
6
3
10
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Educators |
21 |
| Legal professions |
16 |
| Economists |
12 |
| Unknown |
10 |
| Accountants |
8 |
| Engineers/PC experts |
8 |
| Media-related professions (journalists/publishers) |
6 |
| Farmers/agricultural workers (including wine growers) |
5 |
| Business/trade/industry employees
including executives |
3 |
| Scientists |
3 |
| Medical professions (doctors
dentists
nurses) |
2 |
| Civil/public servants/administrators (including social/development workers) |
2 |
| Others |
1 |
| Military/police officers |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Elections for the 11 remaining seats were held on 3 December 2006. The results for ten of the 11 seats were confirmed on 12 January 2007.
(MINUSTAH
19.12.2006
22.12.2006
Parliament 06.02.2007)
Sources:
- http://www.cep-ht.org/
- http://www.tnh.ht/index.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/
- http://edition.cnn.com/
- Centre Haïtien d'Appui à la Démocratie et au Développement des Initiatives Parlementaires (12.06.2006) |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
