Haiti's electoral council approves 17 party coalitions and 88 political parties

Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) ended its political party regrouping process on Friday, August 14, according to Le Nouvelliste. The institution announced that 17 party coalitions (groupements) and 88 political parties have been approved to take part in the country's upcoming elections. The regrouping process reduced the number of political organizations from 316 parties previously validated by the electoral body to a total of 105 organizations, the outlet reported. According to Le Nouvelliste, the 17 party coalitions that had been approved by the CEP the previous week did not opt to further regroup, prompting the council to formally close the process. The move follows the earlier publication of the definitive list of approved political coalitions. In related developments cited by the outlet, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, was expected in Port-au-Prince, and the CEP has launched an accreditation process for journalists and electoral observers. Further details on the electoral calendar were not specified in the available report.