Christians get involved in Haitian elections

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (UMNS) – Churches played a significant role in the nation's May 21 parliamentary elections, despite a climate of fear and violence.

In an April 3 message to the nation, the Catholic and Protestant churches of Haiti reminded the authorities of their duty to organize elections as soon as possible.  This was the first time the religious groups had publicly taken a joint stance in Haiti, and the step underlined the gravity of the situation and the extent of the churches' concern.

For several years, Haiti's Christians have been involved in a major civic education effort.  The country's democratic institutions have been suspended for over a year, and Haiti's Protestant churches have mobilized as never before to press for the holding of democratic elections and to prepare the people for casting their vote.

The Haitian Protestant Federation (HPF), including Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians and other denominations, used the medium of radio to encourage Christians to exercise their civic rights.

For years, "Radio Lumière," an evangelical radio station funded by HPF with a large audience in Haiti, has produced a daily civic education program called, in Creole, "Haiti Plus: Pou' le monde changer!" ("to change the world").

The phone-in program has drawn some 30 callers daily to the Radio Lumière switchboard to talk about concerns.  An invited guest, always a committed Christian, answers them.  Using gospel themes such as "You are the light of the world," the program sets out to convince Haitians that they can take their destiny into their own hands and that Christians should get involved in politics.

Six other radio stations in Haiti have produced similar types of civic education programs.  Radio Lumière and other stations broadcast the last programs of this kind on April 3, the day on which celebrated Haitian journalist Jean Dominique, who ran the radio station "Haiti Inter," was assassinated.

HPF trained more than 500 young leaders who, in turn, became engaged in civic education in all the parishes in the country.  Haiti has a 55 percent illiteracy rate, and more than 29,000 candidates were listed for election.  The young leaders aimed to equip people to decide for themselves whom to vote for and why.  They encouraged voters to elect candidates who had already done something useful in political and public life and to inquire into the honesty of the candidates standing for election.

The Haitian churches were active in organizing the monitoring of the parliamentary elections.  Two hundred international observers traveled to the capital city of Port-au-Prince, but Haitians also decided to set up a citizens' observer mission.  With 30,000 national observers, 1,000 of them directly recruited by the churches, this was the first election in Haiti to be held under close supervision by the people themselves.  HPF Chief Executive Edouard Paultre estimated that 40 percent of the Haitian observers were committed Christians.

There are many Haitian communities in the United States who are anxiously waiting to hear the results of the elections in Haiti.  Active Haitian American United Methodist congregations are present in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Florida, and Georgia.

The Rev. Sonny Augustine, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Asbury Park, New Jersey said, "The election process is a positive step. The Haitian people will be very persistent if they do not win in the ballot box this time, they will win sometime in the future. It is like tasting freedom. Once the people realize that through voting they can change their situation, they will find a way to put into place an unbiased electoral counsel. Then, in turn, they can elect the candidates of their choice."