Loyal supporters greeted him at the airport, where a shuffling and apparently weak Duvalier told local reporters, "I came to help my country."
Duvalier had threatened to return to Haiti in the past and had expressed his desire to run for president. Four years ago, Haitian President Rene Preval said Duvalier would face charges and trial if he came back.
Duvalier's return further roils a tense situation in Haiti. The tallies in the November election, supported with $15 million in U.S. government aid, appear to be worse than thought, with more than 50,000 votes tainted. The runoff vote has been delayed, the candidates are uncertain and the unpopular Preval, widely criticized for his post-quake performance, is insisting that he remain in power after his constitutional term ends Feb. 7. Parliament last year approved an extension of his term until May.
"The economy is being held hostage by political crisis," said Pierre Marie Boisson, chief economist at Haiti's Sogebank. "Everyone is waiting to see what happens with the election, and this is a bad time for waiting. We need to keep up the momentum. We need a fast, transparent, peaceful transfer of power or the world is going to abandon us."
The current quagmire comes just as the country and its ruling class need more than ever to showcase political stability to bring home the $10 billion in aid pledges from donor nations and, more important, to entice investors to create jobs.
When the Korean apparel giant Sae-A Trading announced plans last week to bring 20,000 jobs to Haiti, its chairman, Woong-Ki Kim, highlighted the need for a peaceful transition of power.
"Everybody is in a wait-and-see mode, nothing is clear, and this is very frustrating, especially for the people living in the tents," said Preval's former prime minister, Michele Pierre Louis.
Statisticians from the Organization of American States on Thursday delivered their assessment of the vote. It is no wonder that Preval reportedly refused to accept the report for several days.
The OAS expert mission found egregious irregularities and widespread fraud. Its members discovered that the results from 1,045 of the 11,181 polling stations - about 9 percent - simply disappeared. Although only 23 percent of the electorate voted, 334 polling stations reported soaring participation, often with more than 100 percent of the registered voters casting ballots.
After discounting suspect votes, the OAS recommended that the preliminary results announced by the Provisional Electoral Council in December be changed, that the top two vote-getters should now be longtime opposition candidate, law professor and former first lady Mirlande Manigat, followed by Michel Martelly, the popular carnival singer turned businessman known to everyone as "Sweet Micky," who has transformed himself from a bawdy stage persona to credible candidate.
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