Haiti's President-elect Rene Preval will officially take over the presidency of the Caribbean republic on Sunday, thus giving the impoverished country hope to restore peace and stability.

The inauguration is scheduled to begin at 1500 GMT on Sunday in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, with Preval swearing his oath of office at the newly assembled parliament, with international representatives and diplomats from some 40 countries in attendance.

The ceremony will be followed by a mass gathering at the cathedral in the capital, a speech by Preval to the nation from the presidential palace and cultural activities in the evening.

Preval, 63, served as Haitian president from 1996 to 2001, and is the only leader in Haiti's 202-year history to win a democratic election, and served a full term and then peacefully handed power to his successor.

Preval, who is regarded as a champion of Haiti's majority poor, won a 51.15-percent majority vote in February's presidential election, and has vowed to bring "peace to Haiti" after two years of violence following the 2004 ouster of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Observers say, however, Preval has big challenges to face, including a corrupt state bureaucracy, a wrecked economy and roiling insecurity.

Source: Xinhua