Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Haiti votes in second round of presidential elections

Updated at 8:05 pm on 20 March 2011

The people of Haiti will be voting in the second round of presidential elections on Sunday, as the country battles a growing cholera epidemic.

The country is also struggling to rebuild itself after an earthquake in January last year in which more than 200,000 people were killed.

Voters will be choosing between a former senator, Mirlande Manigat, and a musician, Michel Martelly, known as Sweet Micky, who has never held public office.

The campaign has been dogged by controversy reports the BBC.

The governing party's candidate was withdrawn after international monitors found widespread fraud in his favour in November's first round.

Just two days before the vote Haiti's former leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived back in the capital Port-au-Prince after seven years of exile in South Africa.

Mr Aristide, a populist left-winger who was forced to flee in 2004 amid a rebellion, has said he will not seek an active role in politics.

Another former leader, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, also recently returned to the country.

He is now being sued for torture and other crimes against humanity.

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