PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As the public appearances of President Jovenel Moïse fade with Haiti’s deepening political turmoil, dozens of people from political parties old and new are vying to become the country’s next leader as they seize on widespread discontent.
They
range from a wealthy businessman with no political experience who owns a chain
of grocery stores to veteran opposition leaders trying to gain a stronger
foothold in Haiti’s politics.
Moïse
still has more than two years left in his term after taking office in February
2017 and says he will not step down, but protesters seeking his resignation vow
to continue with violent demonstrations that have shuttered businesses and kept
2 million children from going to school for nearly a month. Nearly 20 people have
died and about 200 injured in protests fueled by anger over corruption, rising
inflation and scarcity of basic goods including fuel.
“It’s a
completely dysfunctional country,” said Benzico Pierre with the Center for the
Promotion of Democracy and Participatory Education, a Haitian think tank.
“There’s no trust in the institutions.”
It’s a
concern that Carl Murat Cantave, president of Haiti’s Senate, acknowledged in a
speech televised Tuesday as he warned that Haiti’s crisis is “rotting.”
He urged
Moïse to launch a dialogue and said all options should be placed on the table.
“The
country needs a genuine re-engineering so it can move forward because everyone
is failing as a leader,” he said in Creole. “Only the people right now have
legitimacy.”
Hours
after Cantave’s speech, Moïse’s office issued a statement saying he has named
seven people charged with leading discussions to find a solution to help end
the crisis. Among them is former prime minister Evans Paul, who recently told
The Associated Press that he believes Moïse has several options, including
nominating an opposition-backed prime minister and shortening his mandate.
On
Wednesday, opposition leaders rejected Moïse’s statement and said they are
organizing another large protest for Friday.
In her
first public comments on Haiti’s current situation, U.S. Ambassador Michele
Sison told the AP that the country needs a functioning government that can
address people’s pressing needs. She urged all elected leaders, including
Haiti’s president, senators and deputies, to work together to identify and
agree on a peaceful way forward.
“We’re
urging the various stakeholders to enter into dialogue in good faith, a
dialogue launched and led by Haitians,” she said.
Moïse
also called for dialogue and unity nearly two weeks ago during a televised
speech broadcast at 2 a.m., further angering Haitians. He hasn’t spoken in
public yet and only briefly appeared in front of a business called Nick’s
Exterminating last Thursday to shake hands with a handful of vendors in the
capital of Port-au-Prince before his convoy sped away.
Opposition
leaders have rejected any suggestion of dialogue, saying they want Moïse to
step down immediately.
Among
those leading the protests is an opposition coalition called the Democratic and
Popular Sector, whose members include attorney André Michel, who was one of 70
candidates in the 2015 presidential election. On Wednesday, he told the AP that
the commission Moïse just announced has no credibility.
“A head
of state who respects himself and who respects his people does not create, in
times of crisis, a commission of negotiation with his advisers and his
spokesmen. This is not serious,” he said.
Michel
is joined by several senators as part of the opposition coalition, including
Sen. Youri Latortue, who has denied corruption allegations that the U.S. made
against him more than a decade ago and who once led a party allied with Moïse’s
Tet Kale faction.
“The president
has shown he is incapable of governing,” Latortue told AP.
He noted
that a company once owned by Moïse was named in a Senate investigation that
found that huge sums of money from a Venezuelan subsidized oil program were
misspent during Haiti’s previous government. Moïse has denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation also named several former top government officials from the
administration of President Michel Martelly, who preceded Moïse in office and
is an ally.
Opposition
leaders have created a nine-person commission they say would be responsible for
overseeing an orderly transition of power and help choose Haiti’s next leader,
noting that the constitution calls for the head of the Supreme Court, who was
appointed by Moïse earlier this year, to take over if a president resigns.
Among
those vying to become president is well-known Haitian businessman Reginald
Boulos, a former doctor. He echoed Latortue’s expressions and urged Moïse to
resign as well.
“There
is no way the president can ever recover his credibility, his legitimacy,”
Boulos told AP, adding that his goals if elected include the redistribution of
wealth and a greater investment in agriculture.
As
protesters continue to clash with police, set up barricades and march through
parts of Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in Haiti, many Haitians say they are
eager to welcome a new leader but they also warn that they will keep an eye on
them.
“They
don’t work for those who are weakest,” said protester and activist Claude
Toussaint.
Many
demonstrators, such as entrepreneur Pascéus Juvensky St. Fleur, say the
protests are not only about replacing a president, but changing a system that
they say marginalizes many in a country of nearly 11 million people where 60%
makes less than $2 a day and 25% make less than $1 a day.
St.
Fleur tapped on a worn copy of Haiti’s constitution as he said that Article 35
guarantees freedom to work and that only all Haitians together can bring about
change.
“It’s
not one person, it’s not one regime, it’s not a president, it’s not the
opposition, it’s not the bourgeoisie, but it’s us who should do it,” he said.
“We dream of, and we want, a better Haiti.”
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27/12/2008| |
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22/05/2008| |
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29/03/2008| |
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28/02/2008| |
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09/02/2008| |
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28/01/2008| |
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25/11/2007| |
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30/03/2007| |
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08/03/2007| |
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23/12/2006| |
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29/11/2006| |
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29/11/2006| |
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09/11/2006| |
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25/10/2006| |
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27/01/2006| |
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07/10/2005| |
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06/10/2005| |
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28/09/2005| |
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30/11/1999| |
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30/11/1999| |
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