Baker Campaign Cautions Patience; It's too early to know election results (Charles Henri Baker)

Port-au-Prince, February 9, 2006. A spokesman for the campaign of Independent Presidential Candidate Charles Henri Baker said that it was too early to know the results of Tuesday’s national elections in Haiti.

Hans Tippenhauer, a Baker campaign advisor said, “Preval has not won the election; the votes have not been counted. We are not conceding the election and hope to meet Mr. Preval in a second round in March.”

Tippenhauer said, “Rumors are awash in the capital about a Preval victory, and the international press have picked them up. It’s much too early to know anything other than Preval has done well in Port-au-Prince, representing only 20 percent of the total vote. As of now, votes have been counted from only 1600 of 9,000 polling stations around the country, mostly from the Department de l’Ouest. In other parts of the country, Preval is not doing well and is receiving about 30 percent of the vote, confirming our belief that there will be a second round. The Conseil Electoral Provisoire (CEP) is suggesting that the counting may take ten days, so we won’t know the results for a long time. Charlito is waiting for the elections results, and he’s optimistic there will be a second round in March. In the meantime, we are making preparations to continue the campaign.”

Tippenhauer said, “Everybody needs to think about what will happen after these elections. If Mr. Preval wins, we will offer constructive suggestions so that he can govern effectively. If Charlito wins or if Leslie Manigat wins, we expect Mr. Preval’s support for the new Government. At the end of the day, we all have to work together for the good of Haiti.”