This article needs to be updated.(February 2018) |
Alternative League for Haitian Progress and Emancipation Ligue Alternative pour le Progrès et L'Émancipation Haïtienne | |
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Abbreviation | LAPEH |
Leader | Jude Célestin |
Founded | 2011[1] |
Split from | INITE |
Headquarters | Port-au-Prince |
Political position | Centre-Left |
Colours | Green, yellow |
Chamber of Deputies | 0 / 119 |
Senate | 0 / 30 |
Alternative League for Haitian Progress and Emancipation (French: Ligue Alternative pour le Progrès et L'Émancipation Haïtienne, LAPEH) is a Haitian political party. The party is led by Jude Célestin, and held three seats in the Chamber of Deputies after the 2015 election,[2] while holding no seats in the Senate,[3] although both houses of Haitian parliament have been vacant since January 10, 2023.[4] The party abbreviation, LAPEH, is pronounced like the Haitian Creole word "lapé", meaning "peace", from French "la paix".
LAPEH was founded as an offshoot of the INITE party in 2011, after Célestin, who had been selected by René Préval to run as the INITE party candidate in the 2010 presidential elections, was forced to withdraw due to allegations of electoral fraud by the United States and OAS.[5][6] At the time the allegations were made, Célestin had come in second place in the first round of elections, behind Mirlande Manigat and before Michel Martelly.[6] After Célestin was forced to withdraw, Martelly qualified for the runoff election against Manigat instead, and eventually won the presidency. In a paper for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, economist David Rosnick claimed that the allegations against Célestin did not have a statistically valid basis and that the forced withdrawal amounted to election engineering.[6]