Marc Louis Bazin, shown in 2002, came up short twice in his campaigns for the presidency.
(Daniel Morel/Associated Press)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Marc Louis Bazin, who lost Haiti’s first free presidential election in 1990 and went on to become prime minister, died Wednesday. He was 78.
Patrick Michel, the leader of Mr. Bazin’s political party, said the former prime minister died of cancer.
Mr. Bazin came up short for the presidency twice, most famously a 1990 landslide loss to populist priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A coup followed the next year, and the generals who ousted Aristide made Mr. Bazin prime minister.
He held the position for a year before resigning.
After Aristide was again ousted in 2004, Mr. Bazin ran against dozens of other candidates for the presidency but lost to René Préval, the country’s current president.
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