ARTICLE - 4 PROMISES FOR POLITICAL STABILITY

PRESIDENT MARTELLY MAKES FOUR PROMISES TOWARDS POLITICAL STABILITY
(Defend Haiti) - By Samuel Maxime

PORT-AU-PRINCE – The President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, made four groundbreaking concessions on Wednesday aimed at stabilizing the political structure of Haiti. The promises were made during a meeting which convened members of all three branches of government and a visiting delegation from the Club of Madrid.

It could be argued that President Martelly was less than enthusiastic when announcing the long-awaited completion of four (4) government processes but none-the-less, by the sporadic rounds of applause by the different sectors convened at the meeting, some change seems to be in the air.

Publishing the Constitutional Amendments

President Michel Martelly promised first to publish the Constitutional amendments into the executive journal, Le Moniteur. "I propose, within a period to be determined, in close consultation with the Parliament, to advance the long-awaited amendment to the Constitution by political actors, the Diaspora and the Haitian people," Martelly said.

The Haitian Constitution, now in its 201st day in, effectively, a crisis, could be finalized before the end of the year. This was echoed by the Minister of the Interior, Local Authorities and National Defense, Thierry Mayard-Paul who said that the amendments would be published before December 31st and at the latest, the beginning of the new year.

Completion of the Supreme Court

The president’s second promise was to work with the President of the Senate, Rodolphe Joazile (Nord-Est/Alternative) "to finalize the procedures to allow completion of the number of judges to the Supreme Court,” he said.

The Haitian justice system has been weak for far to long before President Michel Martelly took office due to the fact that previous administrations kept the court ‘dysfunctional’ by not appointing judges as needed. The establishment of this court is the most critical move towards making justice a reality in Haiti.

Establishment of the Permanent Electoral Council

Past elections in Haiti have always been times of contention, violence and stress with results marred by fraud and inconsistencies. This has been partly due to the fact Haiti has had a ‘Provisional’ Electoral Council, one with all 9 of its members chosen by the president.

President Michel Martelly said, "soon I will convene in an inclusive selection process, with all the necessary conditions to form and make functional the Permanent Electoral Council, representing the Haitian people for constitutional and democratic elections.”

With the Permanent Electoral Council each branch of government chooses three (3) of the council members, that are aimed to represent as many of the ten departments as possible.

Finalize Plans for Upcoming Elections

With the Permanent Electoral Council in place, the president said he will see that elections, that were due to be held in November 2011 are held as soon as possible. 10 of 30 Senators of the Republic will see their terms end in May 2012. As well, mayors and local authorities are to be elected during the cycle. President Michel Martelly promised to not allow these institutions to become ‘dysfunctional.’

"I share of course the concerns expressed by Mr. Serge Gilles, on the seriousness, and the transparency of the electoral institution. I will ensure compliance with the Constitution," Martelly said. "I will do everything in my power to have in the best time, the elections to renew one third of the Senate and local authorities." "There is no doubt; such measures will contribute strongly to the deepening of democracy, freedoms and the rule of law, " he concluded.