Haiti Election Council Under Fire

Haiti's presidential campaign is barely under way and election officials are already under fire for barring the candidacy of former prime minister Laurent Lamothe. He hopes to succeed his former boss, President Michel Martelly. Lawyers for the Provisional Electoral Council on Wednesday ruled that Lamothe lacked the required "discharge," a routine investigation of government ministers into their use of public funds. Candidates have three days to appeal the rulings. Lamothe's campaign accused Martelly of trying to manipulate election officials to prevent him from running. The campaign says its internal polling shows Lamothe is the clear front runner.
Lamothe and Martelly have been at odds since the arrest of an accused drug trafficker and kidnapper who has close ties to Martelly's relatives.
The first round of the presidential election is October 25. If no candidate wins outright there will be a runoff December 27.