PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haitians have chosen banana exporter Jovenel Moise as their next president, provisional results released by the election council on Monday showed, with the political novice winning a majority and avoiding a second round runoff.

Moise won 55.67 percent of the vote in the Nov. 20 election, the electoral council said, a majority that means the impoverished Caribbean nation will avoid a runoff and a political void, so long as the losing candidates do not contest the result.

“We want to salute the maturity of the Haitian people,” said Leopold Berlanger, president of the election council, which organized the vote weeks after a devastating hurricane hit the country.

The results follow a week of protests and unrest led by supporters of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas Party, which claimed victory for its candidate, Maryse Narcisse, soon after the election.

After the results, supporters of Moise danced to a band in a middle-class neighbourhood in the capital.

Earlier, Fanmi Lavalas protesters marched through various neighbourhoods, and police blocked attempts to burn tires. The result appears unlikely to quell the unrest.

The election was a repeat of a vote originally held in October 2015 that was overturned after allegations of fraud.

It was scheduled for Oct. 9, but was postponed again after the Category-4 Hurricane Matthew tore through the Caribbean nation, killing up to 1,000 people and leaving 1.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

Election results are slow to be released in Haiti because votes are hand counted and transported across unreliable country roads, a situation made worse by Matthew, which tore up much of the south.

Moise was the chosen successor to former President Michel Martelly, a singer. A political unknown before last year, Moise also came first in the October 2015 vote, a result that triggered protests and the claims of fraud from opponents.

Moise, 48, is a successful businessman, running a banana export company that he sees as a model for rural development. As president he will face the daunting task of reviving Haiti’s economy and rebuilding a country that was still recovering from a 2010 earthquake when the hurricane hit.

The election took place without any major security incidents. Although turnout was very low and critics charged there had been instances of fraud, electoral observers said the vote had been acceptable.

Interim president Jocelerme Privert, who took power after Martelly left without an elected successor in February, called for calm in an address before the results were released.

He also said the political uncertainty of the past year had compromised economic and political development, referring to the $55 million that Haiti spent without assistance from the international community.

“When we spend $55 million to have elections, that is 55 kilometers of roads that we cannot construct,” Privert told journalists. “That is 55 high schools that we cannot construct. That is 110 lower-grade schools that we cannot construct.”

The electoral council said 12 percent of the tally sheets were set aside because of irregularities and were not included in the count. </s> Members of the General Security Unit of the National Palace (USGPN) try to disperse supporters of Fanmi Lavalas political party as they march next to the National Palace of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, November 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Election tensions spilled onto Haiti's streets on Monday with shots fired outside the presidential palace as various candidates claimed victory in a re-run vote in the impoverished Caribbean country.

Haitians are counting on their next president to lift the country out of political limbo and repair damage from Hurricane Matthew, which devastated the country last month, killing up to 1,000 people and leaving 1.4 million needing aid.

With paper ballots counted laboriously by hand, election results typically take a week to be announced in Haiti. But less than 24 hours after polling centers had closed, some candidates and their supporters claimed they had won, leading to chaotic scenes in the capital where guards were forced to shoot into the air to clear a celebrating crowd.

The provisional electoral council (CEP) released a statement urging the public to disregard any premature victory announcements.

"We call on the population not to believe or transmit any pseudo-result, even partial, that has reached them," it said. "Any result circulating on the internet or social media is not attributable to the CEP."

Electoral officials said they did not expect to have preliminary results until later on Monday, but it could well be longer as tally sheets arrived later than planned and a vote website faced problems. The head of Haiti's electoral council, Leopold Berlanger, said he expected to publish final results within a maximum of eight days.

Voter turnout in the election was less than 22 percent, an electoral observation coalition said on Monday.

The vote was first held in October 2015, but then annulled over complaints of fraud in the first round after Jovenel Moise, the candidate of former President Michel Martelly's Bald Heads Party, finished ahead of Jude Celestin, previously boss of a state construction company.

Further disputes ensued and a fresh vote due last month was postponed when Hurricane Matthew struck.

All told, more than two dozen candidates competed in Sunday's vote, including Moise, Celestin and Maryse Narcisse, who is running for the Fanmi Lavalas party and is backed by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Former Senator Moise Jean-Charles is also in the running.

On Monday, a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Haitians to come together to fill the current political vacuum, reject violence and intimidation and use legal means for any possible challenges.

Narcisse's campaign and that of Moise, an entrepreneur who was tipped to prevail by one recent opinion poll, both claimed they had won.

"According to the report of our tally sheets, we are saying that Jovenel Moise is the elected president of the country," said Calvin Cadet, a spokesman for Moise. "Given that we respect the institutions of our country, we wait for the provisional electoral council to announce the results."

Narcisse's supporters marched to the presidential palace on Monday, where they were met by security officials who shot warning shots into the air. A contingent of national police officers then dispersed the supporters.

Martelly left office in February, and since then Haiti has been in the hands of a caretaker government. To win outright in the first round, the top candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the vote or a lead of at least 25 percentage points.

Failing that, a Jan. 29 second round run-off is likely for the top two finishers. The victor is due to take office in February, and faces a formidable task rebuilding the country after Matthew.

The deadly storm battered homes, farms and schools across southern Haiti, piling fresh misery onto the nation of more than 10 million people on the western half of the island of Hispaniola that is still recovering from a major earthquake in 2010.

There were a number of reports of voting fraud on Sunday, although election observers made a broadly positive assessment, suggesting it had gone more smoothly than last year. </s> Haiti Electoral Council Calls for Calm, Promises Poll Results on Monday



PORT-AU-PRINCE Ė Haitiís Provisional Election Council has announced that the results of the countryís general elections last Sunday will be declared on Monday next week.



The council also called for calm as the polling data is counted, requesting both the public and political parties to wait for the final data and refrain from any actions that could exacerbate rising tensions.



Speaking at a press conference Friday, the councilís head Leopold Berlanger stressed that the council is working hard to deliver the results by Monday and is aware that people are waiting but wants to do a good job to prevent another crisis.



The political parties and candidates will have the obligation to respect the electoral decree so as not to create a fresh post electoral crisis, Berlanger added.



The statements came hours after the two presidential candidates, in letters to the council, denounced the existence of alleged irregularities inside the computing centers.



Jude Celestin of the Lapeh party urged the council to be careful in the process of scrutinizing the votes to prevent another post electoral crisis after the one witnessed in 2015.



Maryse Narcisse of the Fanmi Lavalas party alleged that many votes from the polling stations in the capitalís Cite Soleil, where she claims to be strong, have not been taken for counting.



Since Feb. 15, 2016, a provisional government led by Jocelerme Privert has been running the country following the conclusion of the term of former President Michel Martelly without the election of a successor, leading to a political crisis.
The Haitian national electoral commission promises to release results of the highly contested elections between the candidates Jovenel Moise of the Haitian Tèt Kale Party, Maryse Narcisse of the Fanmi Lavalas and Jude Célestin of the Alternative League for Haitian Progress and Emancipation.