ARTICLE - WAIT AND SEE FOR THE DIASPORA

IT'S WAIT AND SEE FOR THE DIASPORA
(Miami Herald) - By Nadege Green

Haiti’s President Michel Martelly met with members of South Florida’s Haitian community asking them to support his administration.

The crowds were there and the cameras were ready.

But when Haiti’s President, Michel Martelly, swept into Miami Saturday, the scene was in keeping with his first month in office: people waiting, some impatiently, for him to get started.

Martelly, who arrived more than an hour late to a mid-day diaspora brunch, nonetheless received a standing ovation from local elected officials, business leaders and members of the Haitian diaspora.

Though Martelly has made several stops in South Florida since his election, this was his first official presidential visit to Miami.

Back home, the quake-ravaged country is waiting for a functioning government. On Tuesday, Haitian lawmakers rejected Martelly’s choice for prime minister, businessman Daniel-Gerard Rouzier, a considerable setback for the new administration.

Unemployment hovers above 70 percent, while hundreds of thousands remain homeless with little or no suitable options for safe housing during the hurricane season.

Saturday, Martelly reprised his message from previous trips to South Florida, telling the diaspora: “Return home and help Haiti.”

“Everyone here has an important role,” he told the crowd of about 150 at the Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus in North Miami.

Martelly sought to reassure the receptive crowd that despite a few setbacks, “Haiti is open for business.”

Addressing the rejection of his choice for prime minister, Martelly said he was disappointed, but noted that unlike the violent disputes that erupted when his supporters took to the streets after the first election results had him in third place, this time there was no civil unrest.

“I did not let the people take to the streets,” he said, calling the lack of public protests a sign of progress.

Martelly and his administration have faced criticism from Haitians living abroad over his handling of a constitutional reform that would allow Haitians to have dual nationality, a move that is supported by the diaspora.

Martelly promised, “I will defend dual nationality because it’s good for Haiti.”

Earlier, he rejected a constitutional reform that would have bestowed dual nationality.

Some have also questioned the president’s decision to impose a small tax on remittances — money sent by Haitians to relatives back home — to raise money to send children to school for free.

Martelly said there will be accountability in his government, and he promised to implement an auditing process to ensure that revenue from the cash-for-education initiative will not be misused.

Several times, Martelly asked the audience to have confidence in him and his administration.

Reita Bourget, a member of Atlanta’s Haitian Alliance, said she’s willing to give him a chance.

“He’s been out in the world and it seems to me that he’s making the government more transparent. It’s going to be a brand new Haiti,” she said.

Others were a little less optimistic.

“He still has a lot to do to bring the country together,” said former North Miami Mayor Joe Celestin. “We have to wait and see if that can happen.”