ARTICLE - LAMOTHE - SENATE RATIFICATION

KEY POINTS OF THE RATIFICATION MEETING IN THE SENATE OF LAURENT LAMOTHE
(Haiti Libre) -

Before the vote, Senator Rodolphe Joazile, [President of the Commission responsible for analyzing the documents of Laurent Lamothe], penultimate speaker before the Assembly, concluded his speech shortly before 10:00 pm, saying "I recommend again to the Assembly to grant a favorable vote to the Prime Minister-designate"

The Senators followed in an overwhelming majority the recommendations of the Commission.

19 votes in favor of the ratification of Laurent Lamothe of 24 Senators present [23 voters - the President of the Senate did not vote] [Garry Conille was ratified with 17 votes].

3 senators voted against the ratification of Laurent Lamothe. They were Steven Benoît, Francky Exius and Moïse Jean Charles.

1 Senator, Jean-Baptiste Bien-Aimé, abstained.

2 Senators: Jean William Jeanty and Andris Riché, abandoned the session before the vote.

The Senators of the minority opposed to the ratification of Laurent Lamothe, despite their multiple interventions, often strong, have not succeeded to convince their colleagues to not ratify the Prime Minister-designate. Senator Nènel Cassy is one of the few to have shared the doubts and arguments of the minority opposition.

The 19 senators in favor of Laurent Lamothe swept all the arguments of the Senators of the minority. The brothers Lambert gave on several occasions the 'reply' to Steven Benoit. "The arguments of Senator Steven Benoit are almost empty", launched Joseph Lambert, while his brother Wencesclas minimized the arguments of the opposition, describing them as unimportant "details", that can not influence the vote of the majority.

Senator Andris Riché unsuccessfully sought a postponement of the session, hence his decision to leave the session before the vote, after the rejection by the Assembly of his proposal.

Jean William Jeanty also left the session before the vote, but for different reasons. He wanted the question of the constitutional amendment and the army to be addressed prior to the ratification meeting, which he did not get, despite all his efforts. "I do not have the courage to vote for a Prime Minister in such conditions" he declared, before leaving the session before the vote.

In summary, the report of the Commission presented in Assembly, considers that the documents of the Prime Minister-designate, Laurent Lamothe, meet the requirements of the Constitution, namely that Laurent Lamothe is Haitian, he has never renounced his nationality, and has lived in the country for the last 5 years [despite the contradictory statements in the report of the Commission of nationality.]

The Senate office will inform on Wednesday, according to the procedure, the office of the Chamber of Deputies of the favorable vote of the Assembly of Senators of the Prime Minister-designate Laurent Lamothe.

Now that this stage is reached, Lamothe must obtain a favorable vote in the lower house and present his general policy statement before both Houses before being able to form a new government.