ARTICLE - REMARKS OF SENATOR K. BASTIEN

REMARKS OF SENATOR KELY BASTIEN
(Haiti Libre) -

Senator Kely Bastien, (North) member of the G16 has indicated that during the next week a document of proposals will be submitted to make known the positions and priorities of the Parliament (Senators and Deputies). According to the Senator, this document will cover among other things the communal development of "popular" neighborhoods, free education, amendment of the Constitution and social, economic and political claims. The Senator explained :

"...the position of the Group of 16 is not a position that has been expressed in relation to an individual, but against a set of claims that it believes, to this day. Ourselves, as Senators, we have to fight over them and we must now participate with the President of the Republic, to give a legal instrument, a political tool needed to show these positions. In the coming week, we are supposed to sumbit a document that will present our point of view, positions and priorities [...]

We agreed on a proposal that we will do [...] it is a battle that the parliamentarians had engaged in the 48th [Parliament] and that we will continue it. It is to give the possibility to the communes to make their own development, by putting a budget for their disposal. Last year it was 8 million gourds per commune. This year, the Senators and Deputies will demand 50 million gourds by commune, so that they will have the means to make their regional and local developments and to allow for a minimum of social and basic services, that can be accessible to them.

We also want to offer a minimum package of services in poor neighborhoods [...] people need housing, food, health, education, and leisure. [...]

There is a big project to which we all adhere; it is free schooling [...] Now we want to see the strategy of that idea until its implementation, to see how we will attain that. We are supposed to give our full cooperation and the resources requested in relation to the strategy that will be defined.

There is another thing that is important [...] the question of the Constitution. The amendment of the Constitution, was delayed for making corrections. Now we believe that the time has arrived that those corrections are completed. There are commitments that have been made to the Diaspora [...] We must show to the diaspora that we have not forgotten them [...] It is necessary that this Constitution be corrected and published.

There is also a set of problems, social, economic and political demands; and we will sit down to make proposals that will be the basis of our discussions with any actors or stakeholders."