PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Haitian presidential frontrunner Rene Preval has been anointed the troubled country's new leader, Haitian radio reported Thursday.
Preval appeared to have soundly defeated the competition in last week's election. However, as the ballot count continued, his lead diminished to below the 50-percent threshold to prevent a runoff vote.
The 63-year-old former president alleged the election was fraudulent and his supporters protested the outcome, leaving at least one person dead following clashes with U.N. peacekeepers.
With 96 percent of the ballots counted, Preval was said to have garnered 51.5 percent of the votes, making him the new president.
It was Haiti's first election since the 2004 departure of former-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who left the country amid an armed rebellion bent on deposing him.
