Elections in Haiti were originally scheduled to take place starting on October 9, 2005 with the municipal election, followed by national elections on November 13, 2005, and a second round on December 18. In August the electoral council decided to to an undetermined date in late December to allow for more focus to be placed on meeting the (new) November 6 date for presidential elections. On September 7 the dates were again changed, . The first round of voting was moved back to November 20 and the second round on January 3, 2006. On November 18 the date for presidential and legislative elections were ; they were to take place on December 27, with a run-off to be held on January 31, 2006. On November 25, the date was set back yet again, ; they were to take place on January 8 and February 15, 2006, respectively. The election is being postponed yet again but a date has not yet been announced, although February 7, 2006 is reported to be the likely date for the first round. The municipal elections which were originally set to be held on December 11, 2005, have been postponed to March 5, 2006. When announced officially, they will be the fifth set of election dates for a new government since July. Originally, the hand-over of power to the elected government was set for February 7, 2006, but this date has also been pushed back, without an official new date being given. The first round of elections for president and parliament was finally held on 7 February 2006. Runoff elections for Chamber of Deputies of Haiti were held on April 21. Two opinion polls were taken in November 2005. The first to be released was the poll , a Latin American polling group with close ties to U.S. based Gallup. was taken by a political consulting firm, The Democracy Group, on behalf of the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians, a group for the restoration of democracy in Haiti, of which Dumarsais Siméus is a member. CID-Gallup NOAH-TDG Thirty five presidential candidates appeared in the ballot. Among the more known figures were René Préval, a former prime minister (1994–1995) and president (1996–2000), and a Lavalas member; Guy Philippe, a former police chief and rebel leader of the 2004 Haiti Rebellion. Préval is a former president of Haiti who served from 1996 to 2000. He is the second president of Haiti to leave office due to the natural expiration of his term. Préval was in exile during the latter years of the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier but returned to work in charitable organizations after Duvalier's fall.