Hillary meets with Haiti presidential candidates

Port-au-Prince: The United States has no plans to halt aid to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in spite of a crisis over who will be the nation's next leader but does insist that the president's chosen successor be dropped from the race, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Sunday.
Hillary arrived on Sunday in the impoverished Caribbean nation for a brief visit. She met with President Rene Preval and earlier met with each of the three candidates jockeying to replace him.

Only two candidates can go on to the delayed second round, now scheduled for March 20. The US is backing an Organization of American States recommendation that the candidate from Preval's party, government construction official Jude Celestin, should be left out in favour of populist rival Michel Martelly.

The top US official at the United Nations, Susan Rice, said recently that "sustained support" from the United States required the OAS recommendations be implemented. Many Haitian officials, including leaders of Preval's Unity party and Martelly, interpreted that to mean the US was threatening an embargo and cutting off aid.

Hillary flatly rebuffed that suggestion. "We're not talking about any of that," she said on Sunday.

"We have a deep commitment to the Haitian people," she told reporters. "That goes to humanitarian aid, that goes to governance and democracy programs, that will be going to a cholera treatment centre."

Asked if there were any set of circumstances that would prompt Washington to cut off aid, Hillary said, "At this point, no."

Still, she insisted that the United States would press the recommendations by international monitors after a disorganised, fraud-ridden first-round presidential vote in November. They determined that Preval's preferred successor, Celestin, finished last and should drop out. Celestin has yet to do so.

"We're focused on helping the Haitian people," Hillary said ahead of the meetings. "One of the ways we want to help them is by making sure that their political choices are respected."

Haiti is in a deepening and potentially destabilising political crisis. The announcement of preliminary results from the disputed first round led to rioting in December. Final results are expected to be announced on Wednesday.

Just five days after, on February 07, comes the constitutional end of Preval's five-year term.

A law passed by an expiring Senate last May would allow him to remain in power for an extra three months, but it is not clear if his government would continue to be recognised by donor countries. But Preval has said he does not want to hand power to an interim government.

"That's one of the problems we have to talk about," Hillary said. "There are issues of a continuing government, how that can be structured. And that's what I'm going to be discussing."

Leaders of Preval's party said last week that they would agree with Celestin stepping down, but the candidate has not commented since and his lawyers continue to plead his case to the electoral council. It is not clear what Preval himself thinks.

Sunday afternoon, each of the bickering presidential candidates arrived by SUV at the black metal gates of the US ambassador's sprawling residence for individual meetings with Hillary.

Martelly came and went first. Mirlande Manigat, the former first lady who led the polling, met with Hillary second. Celestin's meeting came last.