AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Rajab 7, 1435, May 6, 2014, SPA -- Haitian President Michel Martelly announced Tuesday he has appointed a new council to oversee legislative and local elections that are two years overdue, an important step to organizing a vote whose tardiness has frustrated many, AP reported. In a posting on his Facebook page and in a separate email, the leader said that the head of the council is Frizto Canton, a high-profile attorney who is defending former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier against human rights abuse and embezzlement charges. The council will include three representatives each from the executive, legislative and judicial branches. "The president is doing everything he can to make sure elections happen ... this year," Joseph Lambert, a former senator and now Martelly consultant, said on Radio Tele Zenith FM. He shrugged off a question about Canton's position as attorney for the controversial former dictator who returned to Haiti in 2011, saying, "A lawyer lives by his profession." -- SPA 22:35 LOCAL TIME 19:35 GMT تغريد
