ARTICLE - MARTELLY DENIES RECEIPT OF CONST.

PRESIDENT MARTELLY DENIES RECEIVING CONSTITUTION, ESTABLISHES OWN COMMISION
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE - President Michel Martelly on Friday stated contrarily to what was said by the presidents of the legislature, that he did not receive the signed Constitution of Haiti. Martelly says he has a team working on the matter.

Haiti is in its 208th day without a constitution in its official record Le Moniteur.

The Constitution of Haiti 1987 was amended in a May 9th session of the 49th Legislature that had a quorum. President Michel Martelly in the third week of his presidency declared the Constitution of Haiti erroneous based on recorded video from the National Television of Haiti.

On Monday, the President and Vice-President of the Parliament said a corrected Constitution based on the recorded video and bearing the signatures of both presidents and secretaries of the National Assembly were sent to the National Palace for publication.

On Friday, President Michel Martelly denied having received any document signed by the lawmakers.

President Martelly announced his own team was working on the matter.

"For the amendments we have another team that we are setting up, because I have received mixed signals. For example Mr. Bernard Gousse who is right now in Canada, has sent an important message to me: 'don't proceed, don't proceed, don't proceed'..."

"... and we have the professor Georges Michel, who is telling us 'don't proceed, don't proceed, don't proceed'."

"... and we have other people that are counseling us to proceed."

"For us, we don't want to proceed with our heads down. We want to see where we are going. It is a country that we are managing, not follies that we are doing."

Dr. George Michel who was on the commission that established the Constitution of Haiti in 1987, and is now serving on the commission to reinstate the Haitian army, is not an elected representative in the Haitian legislature. Dr. Michel is opposed to the publication of the correct Constitution because of the changes made to ARTICLE 149.

Martelly says he also received a phone call from the former Minister of Justice (2004-2006) and rejected Prime Minister-designate Bernard Gousse, currently in Canada, who told him to not publish the corrected Constitution. Gousse is also not an elected member of the legislature.