Haiti elections committee gives green light to candidate
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
A one-time coup leader who is wanted in the U.S. under sealed indictment is among 1, 515 individuals given the green light by Haiti’s electoral council to run for office in the upcoming legislative elections.
Up for grabs are the entire 118 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies and 20 of 30 Senate seats.
Among those who will be vying for one of those empty Senate seats is Guy Philippe, a former Haitian police officer who led the 2004 coup that toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Over the years, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have tried — and failed — on at least three occasions to arrest Philippe, who has been wanted in the United States since 2005. This will be Philippe’s third try at elected office in Haiti.
Meanwhile, 522 people — 466 for Deputy, 76 for Senate —were deemed unqualified to run, according to an analysis of the final list of candidates published Friday by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP).
Among them is not only First Lady Sophia Martelly, whose name was listed as being “rejected,” but also former minister in charge of parliament relations Ralph Theano and former Senator Rudy Boulos. Like Martelly, they were hoping to run for the Senate.
Also disqualified is popular singer and first-time Deputy Garcia Delva. He was first elected to Haiti’s lower house in 2010, representing the Artibonite region. The CEP did not give a reason for the rejections. In total, 29 percent of those who filed to run for the Senate were rejected while 25 percent of candidates for Deputies were rejected.
One popular singer who did make it is Don Kato, the lead singer of Brothers Posse, a Haitian group banned from the country’s last two national carnivals because of his lyrics criticizing President Michel Martelly.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified former minister Ralph Theano as president of the lower chamber. He was former minister in charge of parliament relations.
UNIR chooses Clarens Renoit as its candidate
During the national congress of the party. which took place last Saturday, May 16th, at the Vincent Gymnasium in Port-au-Prince, members of UNIR, who chose Renois, believe that he represents the ideology of the party which is morality, honesty, reconciliation and the integrity to give a better future to the young people of the country.
Clarens Renois said, in his speech, that he trusts the youth to change the way the country functions, which according to him, doesn’t allow it to be an egalitarian state.
"A State with less waste, less corruption, that is impartial, that is the state for which I am fighting. It is for a Haiti where peace reigns, where there is work for citizens, and a country which does not bend over before foreign countries to defend the rights of the Haitians almost everywhere in the world. It is especially important to reconcile Haitians with Haiti," Those were some of Renois’ comments before members of his party who came from almost anywhere in the country to support their candidate to the highest office of the state.
UN struggles to stem new rise in Haiti cholera cases
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti that experts say was introduced by UN peacekeepers from Nepal is on the rise, with hundreds of new cases registered weekly, a UN official said Thursday.
Pedro Medrano, the UN coordinator for Haiti's cholera outbreak, said years of work to beat back the disease are in jeopardy as donors turn away from the emergency.
"Unfortunately because of lack of resources and of the rainy season, in the last six months we have moved from a thousand new cases a month to almost a thousand a week, "Medrano told AFP in an interview.
The UN official predicts more than 50,000 new cases this year, up from 28,000 last year, the lowest level since the outbreak began in October 2010.
More than 8,800 people have died from cholera and 736,000 Haitians have been infected since the outbreak that expert studies have shown was brought to the island by Nepalese troops.
Studies traced the bacteria to the sewage system of a peacekeeping base run by the Nepalese that contaminated a river used by many Haitians for drinking water.
This year alone, 113 people have died and there have been 11,721 new cases in Haiti but there are fears that with the start of the rainy season in June, the number of cases will soar.
At the same time, many aid agencies have left Haiti and treatment centers have shut down.
"The risk here is that all the progress we made so far can be lost," said Medrano.
"For the donor community this is not an emergency, and because it is not considered an emergency, the money, the resources we need to deal with the humanitarian crisis are not coming," he said.
Left unchecked, the epidemic could spread to neighboring Dominican Republic or Cuba, he warned.
The United Nations has officially refused to recognize its responsibility for the cholera outbreak despite lawsuits brought by the victims, but it is leading an effort to rid Haiti of the disease.
The United Nations is hoping to vaccinate 300,000 people this year, but it needs $1.9 million for the effort.
About $37 million dollars in total are needed to fight cholera this year.
Martelly tells Hollande Haiti doesn't need France to pay debt
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (sentinel.ht) - President Michel Martelly is under a storm of criticism for unilaterally deciding and telling the France President, Francois Hollande, that Haiti did not need France to return the $21 billion "ransom for independence" but instead needed France's accompaniment in projects.
"The meaning of this trip was not to give a blank check to anyone," said the French President, himself, while in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.
During official ceremonies in Haiti, at the foot of the statue of Toussaint Louverture, Haitian President Michel Martelly told Francois Hollande that "no haggling, no compensation can rewrite the snagging of history that mark us so deeply today."
At a joint press briefing at the presidential palace, Martelly added that he had "such repairs as beneficial to the Haitian people, we can finally finally open the way for development for Haitians who have never had the same educational opportunity."
When questioned by journalists, the French president said that in two meetings at the Elysee Palace in France, the Haitian president told him that returning the money was not what Haiti needed, Haiti needed accompaniment in health, education and gaining investment. Hollande told journalists, "we are doing what the leaders have asked."
Hollande said he was responding to the wish of Haitian leaders to implement a "Marshall Plan for Education". Hollande announced that through the French Development Agency (similar to USAID), 50 million euros would be invested in Haiti to support the Free and Compulsory Education Program initiated by Martelly during his term.
"This is the most beautiful symbol that we can, we offer together," said the French president. "We cannot change history, we can change the future." Martelly spoke with a spirit of appeasement, supporting the response of aid and thanking the cooperation with the French.
Different actors in Haitian public life said that Martelly cannot decide on his own what Haiti would accept as restitution for the ransom which amounts to $21 billion [US] today. It should also be noted that the Haitian executive cannot make any agreements binding with foreign governments or institutions without the approval of Parliament.
They also raised their voices against a number of other, declared offenses, which took place during Hollande's visit.
Many were offended that France continues to denigrate the Haitian hero of independence and first Head of State, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. In his speech, Hollande named Dessalines last among the four Haitian forefathers and also misspoke his name saying "Jacques Dessalines".
There was also the image of Haitian President Michel Martelly driving Hollande during the first official visit of a French president to Haiti. Many felt this was degrading to the Office of the President of Haiti, at least, a unseemly departure from protocol.
Week of the Haitian culture in Caracas
From Monday, May 18 until Sunday, May 24th, Haitian Culture Week 2015 will take place in Caracas, Venezuela. The program will consists of 4 conferences by the historian and political analyst Frantz Voltaire, Director of the international Center of documentation and Haitian information Caribbean and Afro-Canadian (CIDIHCA); a photo exhibit " Discover Haiti " and a big concert featuring T-Vice.
Schedule of Events:
Monday, May 18th: conference by Frantz Voltaire "The Haitian revolution or the universality of the freedom.” 2:00 pm at the Santa Maria University
Tuesday, May 19th: Start of the photo exhibit “Discover Haiti" (19 on May 24th). The exhibit’s schedule: will be Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 am till 6:00 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am till 3:30 pm at the Los Palos Grandes Library
Wednesday, May 20th: conference of Frantz Voltaire "Spanish Haiti and the emancipation of America from Bolivar to Marti."10:30 at the Monteavila University.
Thursday, May 21st: conference by Frantz Voltaire "History of the music of Haiti."10:30 am at the UNEARTE University, Sede Sartenejas.
Friday, May 22nd: conference by Frantz Voltaire "The History of literature of Haiti." 7:00 pm to the Bookshop Lugar Común.
Saturday, 23: T-Vice Concert. 5:00 pm to the Concha Acústica del Parque del Este
Sunday, May 24th: closing of the photo exhibit, in the Los Palos Grandes Library..
On May 18th: Flag Celebration!
May 18th is Flag Day for our blue and red national symbol.
Haitian of everywhere will pay tribute in the country’s history and its heritage which the flag represents, to remember their patriotic duty of unity to lead the national forward.
The Embassy of Haiti in Washington DC, in association with the various consular missions of Haiti in the United States, planned different sorts of activities to celebrate the Fête du Drapeau!
Michel Martelly comments on the rejection of his wife’s application as a senate candidate
The Haitian Head of State, Michel Martelly, says he hoped that the rejection of his wife’s application as a candidate by the electoral court is not politically motivated.
The National Electoral Litigation Office (BCEN) rejected the application of Sofia Martelly for the Senate, deducing that she does not hold Haitian citizenship and had not submitted a certificate of discharge as public figure.
Martelly did not mention those who headed the movement to disqualify his wife, but he suggested that a politically motivated decision could discredit the electoral process.
Reminding that he had made concessions for training of the CEP that the opposition would find credible, President Martelly underlined that the electoral body should also inspire his trust and confidence.
Questioned outside a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of his election, Martelly pointed out that the protesters should present convincing arguments to support the rejection of his wife’s application as a candidate.
One of Sofia Martelly's lawyers indicated under cover of anonymity to radio Metropolis that a civil petition will be conducted regarding this case. However from an electoral standpoint, there are recourses for an appeal.
Gregory Mayard Paul, another of the First Lady’s lawyer had also denounced it as a political decision.
Officials from the presidential party, Tet Kalé (PHTK) regretted the verdict of the electoral Court against Mrs. Martelly. In a press release they noted some of the contradictions in decisions by the BCEN.
Other allies of the PHTK, including the Peasant political party, regretted the political decision. They believed the electoral judges acted under the "pressure from the street ".
Health: a Canadian citizen becomes the Director of the hospital The Providence of Gonaïves …
The Ministry of Health and the population (Mspp) proceeded, on Wednesday, May 13th, 2015, to the installation of a Canadian national at the post of executive director at the public hospital (The Providence) of Gonaives 171 km north of the capital Port-au-Prince, observed the on-line agency AlterPresse.
The new executive director is Dr. Gaetan Garon, who worked more than about forty years, in health services in Quebec and also, during a decade, in countries of Africa, as the Gabon, Morocco and Benin.
"I like to tell it like it is. We should be honest (with ourselves) and recognize our weaknesses. We have weaknesses in management of all kinds, not only in health, but in all areas in general in Haiti," said the head of the Mspp, Dr. Florence Duperval Guillaume, to justify the presence of a foreign national as the executive direction of the public hospital of Gonaïves.
Haiti - Dominican Republic: Who is right?
Haiti Libre - While the Ambassador of Haiti to the Dominican Republic, Daniel Supplice, declares in the media that "The extension of the expiration deadline of PNRE (National Plan for Regularization of Foreigners) will be at the heart of the next meeting of the Joint Bilateral Commission," the Dominican Chancellor Andres Navarro said this week that the extension of PNRE in favor of people living in the Dominican Republic in an irregular situation was not a topic to be discussed between governments, Dominican and Haitian.
Navarro lamented that the Haitian government has not fulfilled the promise to open on time, three centers for issuing documentation of origin to its nationals so that they can benefit from Dominican provisions.
"For us, the commitment of the Dominican Government was able to include in the Plan, the maximum number of immigrants; and one of the conditions was that they are endowed by their country of origin of the basic documentation," adding that this greatly limited the process.
Remarks that can contradict the Ambassador of Haiti which recently acknowledged the failure of the Program of Identification of Haitian Immigrants
[...] The authorities had set a goal to identify 200,000 people, only 52,000 undocumented Haitians living in the Dominican Republic are at present included in the program. Of these 52,000 registered, 2,000 have already received their passport and 15,000 their national identity card (CIN) [...]"
Andres Navarro hoped that by June 17 (deadline of PNRE) the necessary efforts would be made on the Haitian side, for people who have not been able to access this plan, complete their documentation and register.
He indicated that after the deadline the Dominican authorities will normally apply the law on migration for all illegal aliens. Moreover, he stressed that the Dominican Republic does not expect a wave of criticism or censure open about deportations, because according to him of the total transparency that his country has shown in this process since the beginning .
It should be noted that the Haitian Government was now working to develop a contingency plan for hosting the Haitians to be repatriated.