ARTICLE - LOUIS-JEUNE - ARTICLE 137

THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOWER HOUSE, DEFENDS THE AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 137
(Haiti Libre) -

Levaillant Louis-Jeune, President of the Lower House and Rapporteur of the Commission having read Article 137 during the vote on May 9, 2011 in the National Assembly, has reacted strongly Monday, to criticism from parliamentarians, including the President of the Senate, Simon Dieuseul Desras and other political figures like Sauveur Pierre Etienne, National Coordinator of the Struggling People's Organization (OPL) and the former Colonel Himmler Rébu, Leader of the Grand Rally for the Evolution of Haiti (GREH), who declared Saturday on a local radio station that, "The amendments, published last week in the official gazette Le Moniteur includes an omission in Article 137 that now removes the parliaments' prerogative to ratify the choice of prime minister appointed by the head of state," stressing that this is not a clerical error (material error) but "a criminal act of state" [?]

Levaillant Louis-Jeune considers the criticisms unjustified and unfounded, noting that 80 deputies and 20 senators of the 48th Legislature, voted the text as it was published in the official gazette "Le Moniteur" "...the article was passed as is, in fact there are pictures and audio tapes [...] I think that the deputies and senators must remain consistent to the vote they made on May 9, 2011 [...] I want to be clear, contrary to what everyone thinks, no right of Parliament to make the ratification, has been removed. Compared to the last sentence [deleted] of Article 137 which said 'in both cases the choice must be ratified by parliament' because the Article that provides the eligibility of the Prime Minister, Article 158 remains unchanged, so the Parliament will continue to play its role as it did before [...]"

Note that Article 158 does not refer to the eligibility of the Prime Minister-designate, but to the ratification of his General Policy... An article, with the amendment of Article 137, could in the future, become a new point of blockage...

Article 158 :
"The Prime Minister in accordance with the President chooses the members of its Cabinet, Ministers and presents himself before the Parliament in order to obtain a vote of confidence on his statement of general policy. Voting takes place by open ballot, and to the absolute majority of each of the two (2) Houses.

In the case of a vote of no confidence by one of two (2) Houses, the procedure is repeated."

So it seems to be confirmed that this omission is not a clerical error, but rather the result that is voluntary and concerted, of an mendment passed by a majority of members of both Houses. But, since the vote in the Assembly, some parliamentarians now regret, having voted for the amendment of Article 137...