Our interpretation of this result is that the majority of those Haitians who voted cast their ballot for the candidates of the party, (PPL), endorsed by President Aristide.

This leads us to our overriding concern regarding democracy in Haiti. As a referendum on the continuing popularity of President Aristide the June 25 election result is indisputable. As a reflection of the popular rejection of those parties and politicians who supported or condoned the coup, again the election result speaks for itself. However as a selection of parliamentarians, mayors and Kaseks (local councils) to represent the aspirations of the majority of Haitians the election leaves a lot to be desired.

First and foremost the electorate surely should know something of the programmes, positions and policies of the candidates standing for election. This would seem to be an essential prerequisite of having effective and accountable elected representatives. Yet a striking phenomenon of the June election was the almost total absence of any kind of campaigning. Posters bearing candidates photos and a few radio slots containing the vaguest 'feel good' slogans were just about the sum effort on the part of the political parties to communicate with the electorate.

That the right and centre-right wing 'particles' had nothing to say was no surprise because they have nothing to offer. But the FNCD, KONOKOM and, above all, the PPL, who purport to offer a vision of a future that will benefit the Haitian majority, owed the electorate more.

Nearly everyone knew they were going to vote 'Bo tab la" (the slogan of the PPL) but nobody seemed to know the names of the candidates, still less what policies for national or local government they planned to implement.

Haiti has a whole mess of things to sort out and the elections could have been a starting place to discuss crucial issues such as the economy, justice, national sovereignty, the environment, education etc.etc. Instead the electoral process met with little popular enthusiasm, often seeming to be more for the benefit of a foreign than a domestic audience.

The turnout on June 25 was probably somewhat lower than the 50% estimated by the Organisation of American States who, together with the United Nations and the United States, had an ulterior motive for supervising a 'credible' election. The explanation for the low turnout can perhaps be explained by the low-key campaign, fear of violence and organisational chaos. But there are other reasons, particularly the tendency among Haitians to believe that the presidential election is the 'one that counts'.

Another reason, expressed by a number of people, was the belief that the June elections would change nothing in Haiti whatever the result. This idea was accompanied by an rider, implicitly and often explicitly expressed, that decisions about Haiti's future were being made not in Haiti but in Washington and New York.

Our summary of the June election can be encapsulated in the phrase 'one step forward, two steps back'. The Macoutes, the coup supporters, have been shown the electoral door. But as a contribution to the attempt by Haitian people to take control over their lives and their future the election was a failure.

Contrast the years following the fall of Baby Doc Duvalier, when a politically active and mobilised population were engaged in the process of developing a participatory democracy, with the moribund, 'politics-free' election this June. Of course it suits the US down to the ground to see a population becoming increasingly disillusioned, demobilised, and depoliticised, but serious questions need to be asked too about the role that Lavalas and its leader, President Aristide, are playing in this process.

Based on the observations of three members of the Haiti Support Group present in Port-au- Prince before and during the June 25 election.

The Haiti Support Group, Trinity Church, Hodford Road, London NW11 8NG. Tel: (44) 181 – 201-9878. e-mail: haitisupport@gn.igc.apc.org

Since 1992 the Haiti Support Group has worked in the United Kingdom to support the development of genuine democracy in Haiti.