A Major Challenge for Haiti: A New President Will Be Elected Today

Haitians will go again to the polls today to elect a new president who will guide Haiti towards its long-awaited reconstruction after the crisis triggered in 2010 by a devastating earthquake and aggravated after a cholera epidemic.

Former first lady Mirlande Manigat and singer Michel Martelly are the two candidates vying to succeed current president, René Préval, who will leave office in May.

The winner will face the challenge of leading a process of re-founding of the nation, which has not yet been recovered from the monumental earthquake damage.

More than 800,000 people still live in hundreds of squatter camps. Much of the population suffers from problems of hygiene and nutrition as well as severe shortages of basic services.

The removal of debris and the relocation of those affected are two major challenges that will face the next president. The other major crisis that the new president will address is health, caused by a cholera epidemic that erupted in October last year and has affected nearly 250,000 people and has killed more than 4,600.

Besides these problems, the new president should lead a much broader process of reconstruction in the Caribbean country, including many projects to lift the impoverished economy, to improve infrastructure and basic public services like education and health, and create jobs.

Source: EFE