ARTICLE - CONSTITUTION PUBLISHED IN JUNE

THE CONSTITUTION OF HAITI WILL BE PUBLISHED IN JUNE, SAYS JURA
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE – On the 360th day without Haiti’s Constitution published in the nation’s journal, Le Moniteur, the National Palace Press Secretary, Lucien Jura, said that the Head of State, Michel Martelly, intends to publish the Constitution of Haiti at an specified time in the month of June.

Lucien Jura made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that there would be no more discussions on the matter of publishing the Constitution, amended in May 2011 by the Haitian legislature, and that the document would be published in June.

This is not the first time that President Martelly has expressed his willingness to publish the Constitution and it is not the first time that a time frame for the document’s publication has been given. On one such occasion in December 2011, the Head of State promised to members of the government, civil society and the international community that the Constitution would finally be published before the end of that year.

The Constitution of Haiti was amended in a two year process initiated in 2009 by former President Rene Préval. Two legislatures met in two sessions that made quorum and voted by a two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution of Haiti.

The newly amended Constitution was published on May 13 and went into effect at the time the new President, Michel Martelly was inaugurated.

On June 5th, President Martelly declared the published Constitution of Haiti to not be in accord with what was voted on by members of parliament, and issued a controversial executive order to withhold the published Constitution; very controversial, because an Executive Order cannot have power over the Constitution.

A version of the Constitution that is in accord with what was voted by lawmakers was produced using audio and video recordings from the legislative sessions. This version is what awaits to be published.