ARTICLE - LAMOTHE MULTIPLIES MEETINGS

LAURENT LAMOTHE MULTIPLIES HIS MEETINGS TO REACH A CONSENSUS
(Haiti Libre) -

The file of the Prime Minister-designate, Laurent Lamothe should, according to Senator François Lucas Saint-Vil (INITE) be submitted to the vote of the Assembly of the Senate on Tuesday, April 10. This week, the Prime Minister has stepped up meetings under the sign of dialogue both with parliamentarians, and the political parties of the organized sectors of society, in view of obtaining the widest possible consensus for his eventual ratification as Prime Minister.

Even surfers have not been neglected, since Laurent Lamothe has gladly played to the game of questions and answers. Thus, to the question, What will be your policy to unite the executive and parliament? [if he were Prime Minister], Laurent Lamothe answered; "Respect and dialogue with the Parliament, listen, and follow up their projects, by putting a competent and dynamic team in place for the monitoring of public policies, and especially in communities, without forgetting the large infrastructure projects, of decentralization in the provinces."

For Paul Evans, the leader of the Konvasyon Inite Demokratik (KID) "...the Prime Minister should know his strengths and weaknesses. His strength is the reputation that he quickly acquired at the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His weakness is that they [the Parliamentarians] do not know him. This is someone who has spent much time abroad... He seeks to guide public opinion. I find that very intelligent that a Prime Minister knows that it is not the people who will elect him, and he is aware of the weight of an opinion. That is why he tries to guide the public opinion in his meetings. That's how I analyze the choice of Mr. Lamothe to meet the organized sectors of the society."

For his part, the former Colonel, Himmler Rébu, leader of the Grand Rally for the Evolution of Haiti (GREH) sees in the approach of the Prime Minister-designate "...a message on his sense of openness, and his willingness to collaborate with the other sectors of national life, with the pretension of preparing for the future. This while annoying little the parliamentarians, because when he meets all sectors, which often shows him their approval, this gives him theoretically a plus in the minds of parliamentarians, and this may eventually modulate some apprehensions, certain fears, and even some reluctance of the latter..."

Sauveur Pierre Étienne, the General Coordinator of the OPL believes that "...the Prime Minister is trying to show to the various sectors of society, that he is a man of dialogue, that he is open [...] He must obtain the support of the largest number of seats in both Houses. It is a legal constitutional legitimacy [...] If he manages to obtain the adhesion, the moral support of different social categories, of various organizations of civil society, in my opinion it will be a plus..."

Édouard Paultre, Head of the Haitian Council of Non-State Actors (CONHANE) believes that these meetings "...are part of a charm campaign, to show somehow that he dialogues with the sectors, and show to the parliamentarians that he benefits from a support of the society, of different sectors of the Haitian community. I think [...] that he is meeting with the sectors of Haitian society to show that he is a man of dialogue with the whole society [...] In all cases, we, the Haitian civil society, we believe that these meetings, this dialogue is important [...]"

Responding to a question from the community on the Internet, on what would be his biggest objective for Haiti if he was Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe said "...My main objective will be to fight against the extreme misery, by coming up with concrete programs of job creation for the benefit of all those living in poverty. This will be to put security in the country by working with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, by working with the police to protect the population. It will be to work for the social integration, give to the middle class access to credit to develop businesses and globally, it will be for good governance in the search for direct and tangible results for the people. For example by pushing agriculture, which today represents 66% of jobs. We will invest in agriculture, we will invest in the coffee industry, we will invest in rice fields, so that Haiti can produce 300,000 metric tons of rice per year, while today we produce only 70,000."