Jean-Bertrand Aristide - Opposition (1996–2001)

Opposition (1996–2001)

In late 1996, Aristide broke from the OPL over what he called its "distance from the people" and created a new political party, the Fanmi Lavalas. The OPL, holding the majority in the Sénat and the Chambre des Députés, renamed itself the Organisation du Peuple en Lutte, maintaining the OPL acronym.

The Fanmi Lavalas won the 2000 legislative election in May, but a number of Senate seats which should have had second-round runoffs were allocated to Lavalas candidates which, while leading, had not achieved a first-round majority of all votes cast. Fanmi Lavalas controlled the Provisional Election Commission which made the decision. Aristide then was elected later that year in the 2000 presidential election, an election boycotted by most opposition political parties, now organised into the Convergence Démocratique. Although the US government claimed that the election turnout was hardly over 10%, international observers saw turnout of around 50%, and at the time, CNN reported a turnout of 60% with over 92% voting for Aristide. Only later did allegations surface mentioning the above figure of a 10% voter turnout.