VZCZCXRO5520
OO RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0311 0442012
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 132012Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2360
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0966
RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN 1481
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON 1961
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 2428
RUEHBH/AMEMBASSY NASSAU 2659
RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN 1614
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0812
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO 0356
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0256
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0401
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0836

S E C R E T PORT AU PRINCE 000311 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
DRL 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
TREASURY FOR JEFFREY LEVINE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PKAO HA
SUBJECT: PREVAL LEADS, BUT UNLIKELY TO EXCEED 50 PERCENT 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Douglas Griffiths, reasons 1.4 b and d 
 
¶1. (S) Summary: Rene Preval continues to lead the Haitian 
race for president with 48.73 percent of the vote.  As of 
6:30 a.m. February 13, the CEP had entered 8281 of the 9208 
or 89 percent of the proces verbaux (PV) into its database. 
The remaining roughly 1000 are either being examined before 
they are entered into the system, somewhere in transit to the 
tabulation center, or destroyed.  Preval supporters and the 
Interim Government of Haiti (IGOH) have begun to pressure the 
CEP to announce the results and to declare Preval the winner 
irrespective of the actual percentage of the vote he carries. 
 End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) As of 6:30 a.m. February 13, Rene Preval led with 
48.73 percent of the vote.  Leslie Manigat is a distant 
second with 11.84 percent of the vote.  Charlie Baker was in 
third place with 7.93 percent of the vote. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) Vote 
Tabulation Center (VTC) has already entered 8281 of the 9208 
PVs into its database.  The remaining PVs fall into three 
categories:  1) those that have already arrived at the 
tabulation center but are not yet entered into the system 
because of technical problems with the PV, which the OAS, 
MINUSTAH and CEP are correcting; 2) those that have been 
misplaced somewhere in the recovery chain and should continue 
to trickle into the tabulation center; and 3) those (322 PVs 
or roughly 3 percent of the total PVs) the CEP believes were 
burned during attacks on voting centers or are otherwise 
unrecoverable. 
 
¶4. (S) Preval supporters and the IGOH are beginning to 
politically pressure the counting process.  Thousands of 
Preval supporters demonstrated February 12, some demanded 
that the CEP release results, others that Preval be declared 
the winner even if he does not receive more than 50 percent 
of the vote.  In addition, according to CEP Director General 
Jacques Bernard, IGOH officials asked February 11 that 
Bernard ease mounting tension and declare Preval the winner 
with 53 percent of the vote.  Bernard refused their 
entreaties.  Post and Canadian Ambassador Claude Boucher 
warned the IGOH neither Washington nor Ottawa would tolerate 
politicking around the vote count. 
 
¶5. (S) Suzy Castor, a prominent OPL (Struggling People's 
Party) leader, Canadian Ambassador Boucher, Chamber of 
Commerce President (and Entente backer) Reggie Boulos, and 
the Prime Minister have all called Leslie Manigat and urged 
him to concede to Preval.  Manigat refused and said he 
considered any request for his concession as a personal 
betrayal and traitorous. 
CARNEY