Carter Praises Haiti’s Preparations on Eve of Key Presidential Elections

Former President Jimmy Carter congratulated Haiti’s interim President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot on Saturday for bringing this country to the door of democratic elections, which pit a populist priest against a former World Bank economist.

The capital was unusually quiet, with little traffic and few pedestrians downtown, as the poor Caribbean nation prepared after decades of repressive rule to select its first democratically elected president.

A ban on campaigning for 24 hours before today’s balloting kept the 11 presidential candidates out of the public eye. About 2.7 million people are eligible to vote for president, the Congress and hundreds of local officials.

One of the leading presidential candidates is Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a fiery 37-year-old priest expelled from the Catholic Salesian order in 1988 for his political activities. He has drawn huge support from rural voters.

Aristide’s main competition is Marc Bazin, 58, a former World Bank economist whose support comes mainly from Haiti’s middle class and the far right.

The winner will succeed Pascal-Trouillot--a Supreme Court judge who has led the country for nine months--on Feb. 7. That date marks the fifth anniversary of the flight of dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier, which ended his family’s brutal 29-year regime.

Carter, who is among international observers monitoring the election, endorsed government preparations and said he was not worried about the possibility of violence.

“Our delegation has just congratulated President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot on her wonderful leadership in bringing this nation to the eve of what we fully expect to be a successful demonstration of freedom and democracy,” Carter told reporters.