Assistant Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, says he is hoping that Haitians will elect a new president and parliament in free and fair elections on November 28 despite mounting concerns over the electoral process in the French speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

Ramdin told a news conference in Grenada that the OAS, which has mounted a joint mission with CARICOM for the elections, is striving to ensure that every eligible voter would be able to cast a ballot on polling day amid growing doubts among Haiti’s 4.5 million that a fair outcome will be delivered.

Ramdin, who is here participating in a two-day regional conference on civil registries, said that the final draft of the voters list in Haiti is expected on Tuesday.

“The objective is to have free fair and credible elections. The best way to guarantee that is by providing an opportunity for every Haitian citizen to vote and to put everything in place logistically administratively to facilitate that process”.

The OAS has been involved in various aspects of the Haitian electoral process, including the registration of voters particularly after the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.

“On the 28th of September we should have the final draft of the voters list, ” Ramdin said, noting that the “bottom line for us … (is that) we want to provide every Haitian citizen eligible to vote and who have registered, the opportunity to actually vote on the day of elections. We don’t want to disenfranchise anybody”.

Campaigning for the elections started on Monday but there have been protests over allegations that the polls will not be free and fair.

Supporters of the popular leftist party Fanmi Lavalas (FL) have blamed electoral officials for banning the party from contesting the elections.

In July, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations warned that the exclusion of FL and the failure to reform the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) could compromise the elections’ legitimacy.

“My understanding is that the technical preparation is going fine so we will be ready with what needs to be done from a technical perspective. The critical issue will be to mobilize as many Haitians to come and vote,” Ramdin said.

“Special arrangements are being made for those who are living in tent cities and temporary shelters to be able to vote. So we look forward to a good turnout at the elections”.

About 200 observers from the OAS/CARICOM Joint Mission are expected in Haiti a week before the elections.

“It’s not easy to be in every part of the country because some of them are very remote and we can’t reach them. Some of them will have to live in a tent by themselves to be able to observe because of the absence of hotels,” he added.