ARTICLE - KEY = WORKING WITH PARLIAMENT

WORKING WITH PARLIAMENT KEY TO HAITI'S PROSPECTS,FIU PROFESSOR SAYS
(NBC 6) - By Hank Tester

The earthquake-ravaged nation now has been rocked with a political crisis

Is there hope for Haiti, the earthquake-ravaged nation that has been rocked with a political crisis now that its prime minister has resigned after only four months on the job?

Florida International University professor Dr. Eduardo Gamarra says there is – but the key is “getting somebody who can work with Parliament.”

Prime Minister Garry Conille stepped down Friday after being at odds with President Michel Martelly. Conille took his marching orders from Parliament, which is also at odds with Martelly. The legislative body rejected the president’s first two nominees for the prime minister’s post.

Gamarra, who is a consultant to governments and NGOs in the Caribbean, knows Haiti well and just returned from a trip there.

He says Haiti’s short-term prospects “will depend on the ability of the old political class which controls Parliament and this new emerging political class that controls the executive branch to work together.”

In other words, can the rookie politician, former singer and entertainer Martelly – whose nickname is “Sweet Micky” – work it out with Haiti’s old-time politicians?

Gamarra says the two strongest candidates to become the next prime minister are Laurent Lamothe, the minister of foreign affairs, and Thierry Mayard-Paul, the minister of the interior. Both have supporters in Parliament.

Martelly will work quickly, as international contributors to Haiti’s recovery are antsy with leadership on the restoration of the nation.

“And in a parliamentary system, of course, without a prime minister the system doesn’t work,” Gamarra says.