Haiti election council under fire for barring top presidential hopeful

Laurent Salvador Lamothe, Prime Minister of Haiti, speaks during the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York in this September 26, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Stan Honda/Pool/Files

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti's presidential campaign is barely under way and election officials are already under fire for barring the candidacy of former prime minister Laurent Lamothe, who hoped to succeed his former boss, President Michel Martelly.

Lawyers for the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) on Wednesday ruled Lamothe lacked the required "discharge," a routine investigation of government ministers into their use of public funds.