au-Prince, Nov 28, SPA-- Haiti's presidential election has been delayed again, to January 8, by the election commission, a little over a week after a December deadline had been set, reports said Monday, according to DPA. Just days before, the head of the provisional government, Gerard Latortue, set December 27 for elections. The new date was set by the Haitian election commission over the weekend. Thirty-five candidates are bidding for the presidency of this violence-plagued country in the Caribbean. United Nations election monitors will oversee the elections. A second round of elections will take place February 15 before the new government takes the reins - two years after the ouster of former president Bertrande Aristide, in February 2004. Since Aristede's departure, a provisional government led by Gerard Latortue has governed the country, the poorest in the western Hemisphere. A 10,000-strong U.N. stabilization unit has tried to restore order to the country, but earlier this month, eight rebels have died in clashes with U.N. troops. Rebels, many of them supporters of the ousted president, have also killed U.N. troops over the past two years.
