Tension Increases in Haiti as Front-Runner's Lead Drops

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 12 — The calm that followed national elections in Haiti was replaced by tension on Sunday, and confidence in the process started to weaken, as leaders of this country's fractious political parties expressed frustration with the delay in releasing final results.

At the same time, community leaders in the country's slums, seeing the share of votes won Tuesday by their candidate for president starting to slip, accused electoral authorities of fraud.

With more than 75 percent of the vote counted by Sunday afternoon, the lead held by René Préval, considered the favorite of impoverished masses, dropped to 49.1 percent. A finish of less than 50 percent would force him into a runoff next month.

Mr. Préval's shrinking vote tally has stunned his supporters, who staged scattered protests across this city on Sunday, as well as international observers, whose independent samplings of the votes had shown Mr. Préval winning well above 50 percent of the vote.

An adviser to Mr. Préval said in an interview that the candidate would probably challenge the vote count if the final tally did not give him more than 50 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, people in the volatile communities that have become strongholds for Mr. Préval vowed to take to the streets.

Hundreds of people, many wearing Préval campaign T-shirts, marched from the seaside slum of Cité Soleil, here in the capital, to the offices of the Provisional Electoral Council and up to the Hotel Montana, where electoral officials were scheduled to release more results on Sunday night.

The crowd's mood teetered from determined to defiant. Then, after the news conference was abruptly canceled — as a result of problems at the central tabulation center, according to an elections official, Pierre Richard Duchemin — the crowds became outraged.

Some chanted, "Our hearts beat for Préval!"

One protester, Pierre Louis Charles, chanted, "The revolution is starting!"

He added, "We did not vote 49 percent."

Another protester, Jean Gilda Baptiste, 27, shouted: "There will be no second round. We will paralyze this country."

Kesner F. Pharel, an economist and host of a popular radio program, said in an interview on Sunday that if Mr. Préval were forced into a runoff election, it would be the first time in the history of a country whose leaders typically rise to power by force or with an overwhelming majority of votes.

"In Haiti, we don't have the capacity to understand second-round elections because we have never had them before," Mr. Pharel said. "All that people in the Préval camp understand is that they went out in large numbers to vote for him. And if he does not win, they are going to feel cheated."

Six years ago, accusations of electoral fraud ruined the credibility of the last national elections, which brought President Jean-Bertrand Aristide back to power with more than 91 percent of the votes. Later, in 2004, he stepped down after widespread discontent, an armed uprising and pressure by the United States.

But Mr. Aristide's departure did not end the hostilities in this country with almost no functioning institutions, where the average adult earns less than $250 a year and does not live to 60. The situation only deteriorated further.

New elections were postponed several times because of political fighting, logistical delays and a wave of terrifying kidnappings and killings.

The polls opened in a situation of substantial disorder for the election last Tuesday, but ended without a single incident of political violence. For most of the week, a fragile peace prevailed. But on Sunday, as word spread that Mr. Préval's lead had slipped, tensions began to grow.

The results posted on the Provisional Electoral Council's Web site at 7 p.m. showed Leslie Manigat, who served four months as president in 1988 before being overthrown by a military coup, running a distant second to Mr. Préval, with 11.7 percent of the tabulated votes. Charles Baker, a factory owner who is considered the candidate for the wealthy minority, but who has also won substantial support from the country's largest farmer's union, was third, with 8.2 percent.

The Nobel laureate Desmond M. Tutu, the retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, urged Haitians to remain patient during a ceremony Sunday morning at Trinity Cathedral here. He urged the winners of the elections to take a lesson from his homeland and to commit to national reconciliation by inviting all sectors of Haitian society to participate in the next government.

"The people of Haiti say no to violence, and yes to peace," Archbishop Tutu said. "The people of Haiti say no to revenge, and yes to forgiveness."

That was not the spirit of the angry crowds protesting in various parts of the capital on Sunday night.

"No Préval, no Haiti!" the crowds chanted.

One man, who did not give his name, growled above the roar: "We voted peacefully. But if we do not have Préval, the country will explode."