Haiti vote results contested, spark protests
Businessman Jovenel Moise's election as Haiti's next president was challenged Tuesday by losing rival candidates, signaling more political upheaval in the troubled nation as sporadic protests erupted in the capital.
Violence broke out in some of Port-au-Prince's poorest neighborhoods, which were carried by Maryse Narcisse's Fanmi Lavalas party, against Moise, the man former president Michel Martelly chose to represent his party.
Police launched tear gas grenades to disperse a crowd of hundreds of her supporters who called the vote an "electoral coup" and reacted to the advancing officers by throwing stones.
"We didn't vote in secret. All of the working-class neighborhoods in the country... voted for Maryse, but the results they announced were an electoral coup," said Rose-Marie Rosilus.
Rosilus lives in Bel Air, a neighborhood that has historically been a bastion of former leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who heads the Lavalas party.
"We will stay out in the streets until the electoral council gives us our true results," added Rosilus, who brought lemons to alleviate the effect of the tear gas.
There were no reports of violence elsewhere in the capital or across the country.
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