ARTICLE - BELIZAIRE - OPL - INTERPELLATION

BELIZAIRE CASE: THE OPL BELIEVES IT IS NECESSARY TO INTERPELLATE THE CHIEF OF GOVERNMENT
(Haiti Libre) -

In the arrest case of Deputy Arnel Bélizaire, Sauveur Pierre Etienne, coordinator of the Organization of People in Struggle (OPL) believes that the honorable senators and deputies are mistaken,... that it's the Government who is responsible and that it's necessary to interpellate the Chief of Government "...in fact, I do not think we should talk of an arrest,... but rather of a kidnapping, because an arrest is more or less legal in nature.... Of course, we should not defend deputy Arnel Bélizaire, because we know his past, ... we must defend preferably the parliamentary institution.

In my opinion, the double-headed executive power, has no respect for the institution of Parliament. It's a hitch to the Constitution of 1987. The deputies and senators who are the authorities, ... if their rights are violated,... if the government can afford to proceed with the kidnapping of a deputy, ... from this moment, no citizen is safe in the future.

I believe that the parliamentarians, the honorable senators and deputies were mistaken, because it is the government that is responsible. It's not a question of the Minister of Justice or Interior. No, it's the Chief of Government that must be interpellated.

It is necessary that a parliamentary commission be established to investigate what happened at the Port-au-Prince airport. This is an extremely serious event and in my opinion, if the deputies and senators do not show their responsibilities, we should expect all the excesses, because the authoritarian temptation exists at the level of this power and we must stop these abuses as soon as possible.

The Constitution of 1987 exists. It is still in force, ... so the deputies and senators, should not hesitate to apply the elements of the Constitution in this regard. This means simply that the Parliament should exercise its control, it is a constitutional right held by the parliament to control the government action and here we are talking about authoritarian excesses,... the arbitrary kidnapping of a deputy... this is unacceptable within the framework of a democratic rule of law."