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Haiti: Political drama as parliament is dissolved – no agreement on legislative elections
Haiti’s parliament was dissolved, Tuesday, after the failure of last-ditch negotiations for a deal to extend the terms of its members to avert a political crisis in the Caribbean country.
Haiti has not held legislative or municipal elections for 3 years, and the lack of a working parliament effectively leaves President Michel Martelly to rule by decree.
Martelly launched last-minute negotiations, but failed to convince a group of opposition senators to approve a plan to extend parliamentary terms for several months until new elections can be held.
On Tuesday, “implementing partners” working closely with Haiti, issued a statement saying it “deplores the fact that the Haitian parliament has become dysfunctional,” while offering its support for Martelly.
According to a statement from the “implementing partners”, in these exceptional circumstances, the ‘implementing partners’ trust that the Executive and all the political actors will act with responsibility and restraint.
Martelly, whose term in office runs out next year, last month tried to calm opposition critics by appointing former Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans Paul as the new prime minister, but the parliament shunned his pick and refused to ratify him.
“I was expecting to be invited by the parliament. It did not happen, but it is not me who refused to introduce myself,” Paul said in an interview. Now as de facto prime minister, he said he still planned to try to form a new government.
“I have started consultations with political parties to compose my government, but the consensus is not easy to get,” he said.
For weeks, opponents to Martelly have mounted street protests in the capital accusing the president and his family of corruption.
On Monday, Haiti marked the fifth anniversary of a devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in the capital.
On Sunday, with negotiations were still underway to avoid an institutional vacuum, a number of implementing partners, including the United Nations issued a statement offering their support to Martelly.
In a weekend interview with Reuters, Evans Paul said he had to work on securing the trust of the international community. “It’s not easy because the crisis of confidence is based on a tradition of people not keeping to their word.”
The country’s political divisions have led to a “chaotic atmosphere,” he said in an interview at the prime minister’s official residence late on Saturday as street protests continued.
It is unclear when new legislative and municipal elections can be held.
A tentative agreement late last month would have extended the terms of the deputies until April 24, and senators until September 9, allowing time to pass an electoral law and appoint an elections council.
The political accord had been favorably received by Haiti’s implementing partners, particularly the UN, which have expressed concern that the country is again on the brink of political chaos.
Haiti is scheduled to hold presidential elections at the end of the year.
Source: Reuters