The hand-picked candidate of Haiti's previous elected leader apparently won the presidential election outright, according to preliminary results announced late Monday.
The preliminary results gave Jovenel Moise 55.6 percent of the votes. He was up against 26 rivals.
"It's together we will change Haiti," said Moise, who was tapped by Martelly in 2015 to be his successor.
Moise was the leading contender in first-round presidential balloting last year and headed for a runoff. But, the second round was repeatedly derailed amid fraud allegations and the results were eventually annulled after a Haitian Commission reported finding what appeared to be significant irregularities and misconduct.
This time no runoff will apparently be needed because Moise, an agricultural entrepreneur and candidate of former president Michel Martelly's Tet Kale party, got over 50 percent in the November 20th election redo and also led his nearest competitor by well over 25 percentage points.
Either result was enough to win under Haiti's election rules.
The final count will be turned over to Haiti's Electoral Tribunal, where political parties can dispute the results before electoral winners are certified December 29th.
Local
Moise served as secretary general of the chamber of commerce in northern Haiti and his first business was an auto parts company in the Port-de-Paix commune. He also distributed drinking water in northern towns and his campaign literature said he started a project to bring solar and wind power to 10 communities. As president, he vows to improve education and create jobs.
