NEWS RELEASES
June 16, 2005 (10:25 a.m. EDT)
No. 109
HAITI: CANADA PLEASED WITH POLITICAL PARTIES’ SIGNING
OF AN ELECTORAL CODE OF CONDUCT
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew and International Cooperation Minister
Aileen Carroll today congratulated Haiti’s political parties on the signing of an electoral
code of conduct that will enable the elections scheduled for the fall to be conducted
within a political framework.
Seventeen parties, including the Fanmi Lavalas, signed the document on Tuesday
during a ceremony organized by the Institut supérieur de formation politique et sociale
and attended by Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister, Gérard Latortue.
“Canada is pleased with this development, which offers some hope for the
establishment of democratic order in Haiti,” said Minister Pettigrew. “This kind of
dialogue is vital to national reconciliation in Haiti.”
“Here is another step forward on the road toward democracy in Haiti,” said Minister
Carroll. “Canada hails such a political gesture, which demonstrates the good will of all
parties to work for the greater good of the Haitian people.”
During his trip to Haiti in November 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin gathered
members of Haiti’s government and political parties around the same table for the first
time, thereby helping to relaunch dialogue and spark the resumption of national
reconciliation. Minister Pettigrew also brought the political parties together on two
occasions during the past year.
Municipal elections in Haiti are scheduled for October 9, 2005, while legislative and
presidential elections are scheduled for November 13 and December 18, 2005 (first and
second rounds). Canada is contributing $17 million to the electoral process. Security
surrounding the elections and a proposed international elections assessment mission
for the elections in Haiti will be discussed at the Montreal International Conference on
Haiti, which will take place on June 16 and 17, 2005.
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For more information on Canada’s contribution in Haiti, visit the following Web site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/cip-pic/library/reconstructinghaiti-en.asp.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Sébastien Théberge
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs Canada
(613) 995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca
Andrew Graham
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister for International Cooperation
(819) 953-6238
Media Relations Office
Canadian International Development Agency
(819) 953-6534
info@acdi-cida.gc.ca
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