Though I much prefer Haiti's first Constitution for its poetry and great anti-colonialist passions, one can easily see that a great deal of thought, and not a little knowledge of Haitian history, went into the 1987 document. Nevertheless, as early as 2009, Haiti's legislators, together with USAID, declared Haiti to be undergoing "constitutional crisis" and began agitating to amend the Constitution. The stated reason was its failure to recognize diaspora Haitians despite their remittance of about U.S. $1.7 billion per year to the country in money transfers to their families.
Early proposals for the emancipation of the diaspora were met with strong resistance from Haitians at home, who took exception to being considered Haiti's arms and legs. But after the earthquake and the corruption associated with the disbursal of reconstruction funds, calls for help from the diaspora became mingled for the calls for dual citizenship. Indeed, in the last few months the Haitian press has promoted the issue of dual citizenship almost to the exclusion of all other proposed constitutional amendments, as if the only reason for changing the Constitution was to loosen the diaspora's purse strings. In fact, the diaspora vote served to cover a consolidation of power by Haiti's central government.
Determining the future of a country in under 20 hours in 2 meetings
Within five days of being seated and, in two meetings totaling less than 20 hours, Haiti's newly assembled 49th legislature modified over 100 articles of the 1987 Constitution. The result was a legislative coup d'etat. The main changes are noted below.
The amended constitution
- The Stealth Article: The amended constitution
barely escaped including a stealth article that would have allowed
Michel Martelly's presidency to continue for 10 years. This ploy was
thwarted by Senator Steven Benoit at around 11:55 p.m. Tuesday night.
Mr. Benoit threatened to resign when he found a prefab amendment in a
late draft of the constitution calling for two consecutive presidential
terms. This amendment had been absent from all previous drafts, and no
one knows how it came to be inserted in the document. Mr. Benoit
prevailed and, in the end, the parliament voted to limit the tenure of the president to two non-consecutive 5-year terms without any possibility of a third.
- Consolidation of Power: Several measures in the revised constitution will greatly consolidate power in the executive and the central government.
- Dissolution of the Supreme Court and establishment of a Constitutional Council. The
new constitution dilutes the power of the communal assemblies that
previously had input into the nominations of supreme court judges. It
concentrates power instead into the President, who will appoint the
members of a Constitutional Council (to 9-year non-renewable terms) to
verify the constitutionality of legislation.
Effectively, a Vichy president gets to make the laws. This opens the way to undemocratic and unconstitutional laws that favor foreign concerns such as Clinton's CIRH (Interim Committee for the Reconstruction of Haiti). This amendment also increases the power of the Prime Minister, who is now designated, in lieu of the Chief Supreme Court Justice, to succeed an incapacitated president. Since Haitian Prime Ministers are typically picked by foreign powers, this item nicely sets the stage for foreign control of both the presidential and prime ministerial functions.
- Conclusion of all mayoral terms: From now on, until the municipal elections of 2013, all Haiti's mayors will be replaced
by "Municipal Agents" designated by the central government. The stated
reason for this decision is the high cost of elections. In fact, the
absence of mayors will destroy local governments and expose resources
such as commons lands to confiscation.
- Recognition of Haitian citizenship alongside other nationalities: The amended constitution grants diaspora Haitians the right to vote and be treated solely as Haitian citizens while in Haiti. Simultaneously the constitution specifies that dual-nationality Haitians may not hold political office. In effect, the diaspora has gained the ability to swing elections and to be used for electoral fraud, but nothing more. The idea of including Haitians from abroad in the affairs of the country is an old one that was first fielded by Aristide. His proposal, however, was to create an 11th Department comprising the diaspora, with its own political representatives. In this fairer arrangement, the diaspora would have promoted diaspora affairs without meddling in domestic policy.
Certainly the new constitution is invalid, considering the circumstances under which it was drafted. If there is any doubt on this score, one need only consider that Haiti's legislators amended the constitution to extend their terms, on the final night of their meeting. This was a clearly unconstitutional move. Such temptation. Jobs and places to live are scarce in Port-au-Prince.
It is unclear where Michel Martelly's prefab digs will be set up, but he got the better job. Unabashed in his dictatorial role, he has already named his Prime Minister without consulting the new parliament. Former U.S. President Clinton, U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Merten, Haiti's "special coordinator in the U.S. State Department" Thomas Adams, Honduran dictator Porfirio Lobo, and Haitian ex-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier are among those who will attend Martelly's 4.5-million dollar inauguration this Saturday on the lawn outside of Haiti's wrecked national palace.
"Everything is broken,'' said Daniel Supplice, head of Martelly's presidential transition team. "But we don't have a choice. The president has to be inaugurated either way. It has to be done. We have to see how it is done.''
Mr. Supplice obviously forgets Duvalier's 3-million dollar wedding back in 1980. No. We do have a choice.
Read Bio and more Essays and Translations
by Haitian Author, Dady Chery on Axis of Logic
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