Haiti’s president departs without a successor

Thirty years to the day after Haiti’s last dictator fled the impoverished nation and the country took its first wobbly steps toward democracy, another leader stepped down Sunday, without a successor to take his place.

The embattled president, Michel Martelly, left office amid political tension and an electoral crisis that is viewed as underscoring how Haiti has struggled to maintain democratic order in the three decades since the ouster of Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Mr. Martelly departed at the end of his five-year term, thanks to a lastminute agreement that laid out steps to choose a provisional government to take his place. Although the agreement left major doubts about who will govern the nation in the months to come, experts hailed it as an important move toward at least temporarily resolving a political impasse that had put hundreds of protesters on the streets.

At least one person was beaten to death Friday, as former army soldiers supporting Mr. Martelly hit the streets to counter protests that demanded his ouster.

“I said I would not hand over power to those that don’t believe in elections, but the Parliament guaranteed that they will do everything to make sure the process carries on,” Mr. Martelly said in his last speech to Parliament, before handing the presidential sash to the leader of the national Assembly. “I am leaving office to contribute to constitutional normalcy.”

Mr. Martelly, a former pop music star, was criticized for failing to hold elections during his five years in office and for surrounding himself with cronies. He was considered an autocrat who allowed Parliament to expire during his tenure.

Haiti’s latest political crisis resulted from a presidential election with 54 candidates that was held in October, which critics said was riddled with fraud. Political operatives were able to vote multiple times, and the president’s handpicked successor came in first despite being a virtual unknown, leaving the 52 presidential candidates who did not make the runoff election to question the results.

The agreement stipulates that an election will be held by April 24, and a new president installed May 14.