20 YEARS AFTER ARISTIDE, TURMOIL STILL HAUNTS HAITI
(Montreal Gazette) - By Rene Bruemmer
Nation building: Voter frustration may help Martelly
Twenty-years ago yesterday, beloved priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president, bearing with him the hopes of the impoverished majority that their voices were finally being heard and their suffering would stop.
The timing was significant, five years to the day after Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier was forced to flee the country in 1986, bringing an end to a 29-year dictatorship under the Duvalier regime that saw tens of thousands murdered.
Aristide would be overthrown in a coup nine months after he was sworn in, brought back in 1994 to finish his term and elected once again in 2000, only to be ousted again in 2004 and forced to live in exile in South Africa. The dreams of the impoverished would remain unfulfilled.
But in the surreal world of Haitian politics, Duvalier has returned to Haiti and Aristide may too, having received a new passport from Haiti's ruling party.
The timing comes in the midst of a political tempest in Haiti.
The candidate supported by the ruling party during November's presidential elections was ejected from the race last week after calls by international moderators citing electoral fraud, and pressure from United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who flew to Haiti last week to remind Rene Preval's government that aid money was at stake. This leaves Sorbonneeducated academic and former first lady Mirlande Manigat to square off against popular singer Michel (Sweet Micky) Martelly in the runoff vote March 20.
The coming of Aristide, who retains a strong following among many of the urban and rural poor, promises to worsen the political uncertainty, but his return is supported by most Haitians, here and in Haiti, said Pierre Emmanuel, senior news editor at Montreal Haitian radio station CPAM.
"The people are split, because it can create a new instability," Emmanuel said. "But the majority think he must return, because he was forced out in a coup d'etat," that was supported by local groups and the international community as Aristide fell out of favour. Even those that don't support Aristide or Duvalier support their return, Emmanuel said, because exile is illegal under Haiti's constitution.
And because it allows the possibility that justice be served. A Haitian judge has charged Duvalier with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars during his 15-year rule. Aristide may also have to face charges of human rights abuses and corruption.
"Justice is a double virtue," said Emmanuel. "It can help victims to heal ... it can show the youth that crime does not pay -that you have to pay for crime. It's a fundamental lesson that is crucial for the reconciliation of a country."
Aristide's initial re-entry will initially cause shock waves, the effect will wear off after weeks or months, said Universite du Quebec a Montreal professor Chalmers Larose, a former lawyer and diplomat from Haiti.
"I don't think it will have a long-term effect on the current political scene," Larose said. "I think the political careerof Mr. Aristideisalmost finished. His political base is only a shadow of what it once was, and the movements like Lavalas (Aristide's former political party) and Duvalierism have lost much of their political credibility."
Haitians are in a moment of extreme frustration with their political system, much like the era in which Aristide was swept to power, Larose said. That sentiment could play favourably for candidate Martelly, whose main motivation is linked to a profound aversion to Haiti's current situation, which resonates deeply these days especially among the vast slum and shantytown populations.
Aristide said he would focus on education reforms once he returned to Haiti. But both Emmanuel and Larose noted that he remains a political creature by nature. If he spends time rebuilding his support base, and has learned from the past that it is not politically expedient to aggravate the United States or France, he might have a chance in the next presidential elections five years down the road, Larose said.
In the meanwhile, Haitians need to learn to work in partnership instead of opposition, Emmanuel said.
"It is time for all the sons of this country to have a common dream, so we stop having eight to nine million Haitians with eight to nine million different dreams. And we can finish the dream of building the nation, finally, after 200 years of independence."
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