* Contested first-round vote results to be released Feb. 2
* Runoff vote scheduled for March 20
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Haiti's electoral authorities
will release results next week from the country's disputed presidential
election and set a date for a runoff vote in signs a protracted electoral
impasse may be easing.
The results from the first-round vote will be made public on
Wednesday with a runoff set to take place on March 20, Haiti's electoral
council said in a statement late Friday.
Political uncertainty has gripped Haiti, the Western
Hemisphere's poorest country, since a chaotic Nov. 28 presidential vote that
was marred by fraud allegations and street protests.
Official preliminary results showed a government-backed
candidate, Jude Celestin, would advance to a second-round vote against former
first lady Mirlande Manigat.
But President Rene Preval, who has faced accusations of
rigging the first-round vote results, is under intense pressure from the U.S.
government and other Western powers to accept a report by Organization of
American States experts that recommends dropping Celestin from the runoff in
favor of another candidate.
The recommendation followed a review by OAS electoral
experts of the contested results in the earthquake-battered Caribbean country.
On Wednesday, Haiti's ruling party said it had agreed to
pull Celestin from the elections, but he has not yet formally withdrawn.
Michel Martelly, a popular musician who finished a close
third in the November vote, has warned his supporters will take to the streets
if he is not included in the runoff.
The new vote schedule came ahead of a planned visit by U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is expected to arrive in Haiti on
Sunday.
Clinton will meet with Preval and the Haitian candidates to
discuss the election and reconstruction efforts a year after a devastating
earthquake hit the country. (Reporting by Allyn Gaestel; Writing by Kevin Gray;
Editing by Eric Beech)
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