Haiti to hold presidential runoff, ruling party candidate out

"We have worked according to the formula and we are presenting a final statement with the results," CEP President Gaillot Dorsainvil said while announcing the results of presidential vote recount.

Chief of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti Edmond Mulet later told the press that "the end of this stage should finish with a period of more than two months of uncertainty for the Haitian people."

Jose Miguel Insulza, general secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS), said in Washington that Haitians should "calmly receive the results announced today (Thursday) and participate with trust in the elections" to be held on March 20.

Despite the adversity of the January 2010 earthquake, Haiti has proved its "civic and democratic will," Insulza said, adding that he would continue his work to aid the Haitian authorities to prepare and hold the second round of elections.

Haiti held its first round of presidential elections on Nov. 28 last year. According to preliminary results released by the CEP, Manigat from the National Gathering of Progressive Democrats took first place with 31.37 percent of the vote, Celestin ranked second with 22.48 percent and Martelly ran third.

However, most candidates denounced an electoral fraud and the international community questioned the transparency of the process, which sparked many protests in the country, leaving at least six people dead; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

See www.xinhuanet.com/english2010 for full version