Elsewhere in Americas, elections aplenty

MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- "All I can say is thank God it's over," wrote one columnist when the election ended and a winner was named.

Not in the United States which, as the world knows, is still groping to determine who will be its next president in a marathon post-Election Day drama.

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Trinidad Express writer Debbie Jacob was commenting on Monday's general elections in Trinidad and Tobago.

That event made the Caribbean island nation the third country in the Americas to go to the polls to choose a new leader since the United States voted on November 7.

Canada, the United States' polite northern neighbor, wrapped its November 27 election up with typical efficiency. Haitians voted in an altogether murkier affair on November 26 that brought former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide back to power.

Trinidad's Prime Minister Basdeo Panday might have had the tumultuous events in the United States in mind when he addressed supporters outside his party headquarters after his party's win Monday night.

"We have much to be thankful for," Panday said. "We must be ever thankful that the general election was held without serious incident. After a long and tedious campaign, we have earned the respect of the world."

The election tangle in the United States has provoked mirth and a measure of self-satisfaction in many countries as they watched the world's mightiest nation fumble in a fog of dimpled chads and butterfly ballots -- as well as allegations of irregularities and intimidation of the sort Washington regularly hectors Third World nations over in their own elections.

In Canada, voters returned veteran Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien to power using just pencils and paper, marking an "X" on ballots that were counted by hand. Within hours of the polls closing, the country knew the Liberals were back in power with more than 170 seats in the 301-seat Parliament.

"There were minor glitches in terms of the electronic voter lists, but we like to claim that Canada has a superior system," said Paul Thomas, a political scientist at the University of Manitoba.

In Haiti, the result was never in doubt. Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest and champion of the poor, scooped 92 per cent of nearly 2.9 million ballots cast in an election boycotted by the opposition, which complained of cheating in a parliamentary election in May and of political violence and harassment in the run-up to the presidential poll.

Aristide, who inherited the mantle of leader of the poorest country in the Americas, was Haiti's first freely elected president then was ousted in a military coup in 1991. A U.S. invasion in 1994 restored him to power. After stepping aside in 1995, he sat on the sidelines pending his return.

November's election was by Haiti's own standards not too bad -- the sporadic political violence in no way matched the mass killings of some previous elections in a country with a history of military rule and dictatorship.

Still, amid its own election furor, the United States wagged its finger at Haiti. U.S. President Bill Clinton last week sent a letter to Aristide expressing concern about democracy there.

But Ira Kurzban, a Miami lawyer who acts as Haiti's general counsel in the United States, said U.S. credibility had been dented by the mess at home.

"The recent U.S. presidential election shows conclusively that we have no business telling other countries how to resolve lawful but disputed elections," he said in the Miami Herald.

"Hopefully, the difficulties we (the United States) now face as a result of our disputed elections will trigger greater patience and respect for the decisions of Haiti and other countries, even if we are unhappy with the result."

It was not all plain sailing in Trinidad and Tobago either. The parliamentary election in the oil-rich, former British colony bared racial tension between people of Asian Indian and African descent.

In campaigning, contenders laid charges of corruption against each other. There have also been allegations of fraud and irregularities.

"This election certainly set some kind of world record for just how tasteless and inconsiderate election campaigns can be," said Jacob of the Express.

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