ARTICLE - THE PINK MILITIA

SENATOR BIEN-AIME: MARTELLY WANTS A 'PINK MILITIA' NOT AN ARMY
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The Senator of the Nord-Est, Jean-Baptiste Bien-aime, said on Thursday that the President of the Republic, Michel Joseph Martelly, will not install a Haitian army on November 18 but a "milice rose", or Pink Militia.

Reacting to President Michel Martelly's determination to instate an army on November 18, Senator Bien-Aime recalled that the president could not without the support of parliament. The senator, stated that the president had not begun any such discussion with legislatures.

The Senator of the Nord-Est said:

"The president can form a militia group. I here talk of a Pink Militia growing in different corners of the country because he can form a militia group. But if he intends to form an army the parliament must have some say in it."

Senator Bien-Aime also believes Parliament is not in favor of putting monies toward an army as he presented a list of issues which he describes as "pressing priorities".

"...[the] president promised free education but it is not truly free. For us to resolve this problem is the army the priority?"

"If we reinstate the army, we buy guns and we buy boots. We buy boats, we buy helicopters, we buy everything that an army needs. Will the children ever go to school for free? I believe no."

"Will the people ever get out from under the tents? I believe no."

"I am okay with an army, but for when we have economic activity in the country, when we have a larger budget, we have money coming in, when we finish resolving all the problems..."

"Port-au-Prince is destroyed. Every where you look there is trash throughout the city. Is it not necessary to get trucks to pick up the trash?"

"Is it not more necessary to help the peasants purchase tractors to allow us to develop a mechanized agriculture?"

"Is it not more necessary to develop the border regions, to allow the people to not have to cross over to the Dominican Republic for what ever small fever they may have?"

"I believe our priorities are in all these things: dealing with our environment, agriculture, the protection of citizens, education, and removing people who are under the tents. These are the things that are priorities."

President Michel Martelly has said that he will mobilize the Armed Forces of Haiti through a presidential decree on November 18. To date, no resolutions in regard to the mobilization of the Armed Forces of Haiti have been filed.