(9 Dec 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Various of supporters of presidential candidate Michel Martelly drumming and playing music as they march through streets
2. Various of UN troops and police on guard outside the electoral council building
3. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jasmel Thibault, Martelly supporter:
"The same way we made (Rene) Preval president before, we now vote for Martelly. I voted and he is the new president."
4. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Paul Rechina, Martelly supporter:
"The INITE (president Preval's Unity party) party in this country has no more supporters. They had six years to govern this country and have done nothing for the young people and the police keep attacking us. But we now have a new president (referring to Martelly)."
5. Various exteriors of the presidential palace
6. Various of UN troops trying to clear road blocks made from burning tyres, rocks and debris
7. UN armoured vehicles driving through streets
8. Various of small fire burning
9. Police working to clear road block
STORYLINE:
Haiti's electoral council will re-count the vote in the country's disputed election with the three leading candidates present, the council president said Thursday.
The decision follows rioting sparked by the announcement that government-backed candidate Jude Celestin and former first lady Mirlande Manigat were poised to enter a January runoff, while entertainer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly had apparently been narrowly eliminated.
Council president Gaillot Dorsainvil read a statement on Haitian radio, saying the ballots would be re-counted with international observers and electoral officials watching.
He invited the three top candidates to monitor the counting.
Nearly all of the 19 candidates on the November 28 ballot have said fraud tainted the results.
A coalition of at least 10 candidates reiterated their call Thursday for the vote to be annulled.
The US embassy has also said the preliminary results appeared to conflict with reports from observers who monitored the count.
Martelly's supporters were again in the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince Thursday. Some held a lively march playing music and drums, but others piled earthquake rubble into barricades and squared off with police and UN peacekeepers.
However a light rain that fell through the night and continued through the morning Thursday extinguished many burning piles of tires and dampened the protests.
On Wednesday, the candidate told his supporters to continue demonstrating, and a campaign manager said he would legally challenge the announced results.
The protests arise out of widespread anger at outgoing President Rene Preval and his preferred successor, Celestin, the head of the state-run construction company.
Preval's administration has been condemned by many Haitians for failing to spearhead reconstruction of the country after the January earthquake.
More than an estimated one (m) million people still live under tarps and tents and little of the promised international aid from the United States and other countries has arrived.
Preliminary election results put Celestin ahead of Martelly by just 6,845 votes for second place.
Former first lady and law professor Manigat had 31.4 percent of the vote, while Celestin had 22.5 percent and Martelly 21.8 percent.
The top two candidates advance to a January 16 second round.
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