By Michael Weissenstein
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
(AP) — President Jovenel Moise
said Friday that he is optimistic
that negotiations with a coalition
of his political opponents
will succeed in forging a powersharing
deal to end months of
deadlock that have left Haiti
without a functioning government.
In an interview with The
Associated Press, Moise laid
out his bargaining position in
the talks that began last week
in the mission of the papal
envoy to Haiti with political
opponents and some civil society
groups. He said he would
accept an opposition prime
minister and a shortened term
in office, but only after adoption
of a constitutional reform
strengthening the presidency.
Moise said his efforts to
improve living conditions for
Haiti’s 11 million people had
been thwarted during his first
three years in office by the constitutional
requirement that
the National Assembly must
approve virtually all significant
presidential actions.
He said he would serve only
a single term in office so he
would not personally benefit
from the powers of a stronger
presidency.
“It makes me optimistic
to see my brothers and sisters
from the political opposition,
civil society and religious
groups,” he said. “I think we’re
at a crossroads.”
Moise is a former banana
farmer who won 56 percent of
the vote against three opponents
Caribbean Life, F 26 ebruary 14-20, 2020
in the 2016 election. He
made some progress on rural
infrastructure projects during
his first two years in office.
Then the end of subsidized Venezuelan
oil aid to Haiti fueled
chaos in the Western Hemisphere’s
poorest nation.
Without the help, the economy
shrank, and investigations
found questionable spending of
hundreds of millions of dollars
over the years in aid from
the Petrocaribe program run
by Venezuela. Protests began
over the Petrocaribe misspending
and protests snowballed
until Moise’s opponents waged
a near-total lockdown of Haiti’s
capital for three months last
fall.
Protests were accompanied
by a constant blocking of
Moise’s agenda in the National
Assembly. A small group of
opposition legislators blocked
Moise proposals with tactics
ranging from filibusters
to throwing furniture inside
the Senate chamber or calling
supporters to block governing
party senators access to the
building.
The country was unable to
organize legislative elections
and the National Assembly
shut down last month, leaving
Moise without a constitutionally
recognized government.
He says the constitution allows
him to rule by decree with
legislative approval but he is
choosing not to in order to
forge national unity.
Observers say developed
nations that provide Haiti with
most of its state budget are
highly reluctant to keep funding
a government that could
Haiti’s President, Jovenel Moise speaks during an interview
at his home in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 Associated Press / Dieu Nalio Chery
be accused of moving toward
dictatorship.
Haiti’s 1987 constitution
was drafted after the end of
three decades of dictatorship
and aims in part to prevent the
emergence of another strongman
by sharply limiting presidential
powers.
“The 1987 constitution took
all the power out of the president’s
hands. The president
has zero power and the people
demand everything from
the president of the republic,”
Moise told AP in the foyer of his
home in the hills above Portau
Prince.
Haitian president lays out
terms for deal with opposition
DO YOU HAVE LEG PAIN,
LEG CRAMPING, OR
NON-HEALING FOOT
WOUNDS?
Injured?
Need a Lawyer?
Auto • Bus • Truck • Taxi
Subway Accidents • Slip/Trip & Fall
Nursing Home Neglect • Wrongful Death
FREE CASE CONSULTATION
on all accident cases
Also handling
Contested/
Uncontested Divorces,
Child Support,
Custody,
Visitation, Paternity,
Real Estate Closings,
Wills, Probate &
Estates, Elder Law,
Traffic Court
Goldberg Sager & Associates
Attorneys at Law
y
1628 Kings Highway (at East 17th Street), Brooklyn, NY 11229
41 Flatbush Avenue, Suite 237, Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-645-6677 www.attorneynow.com
/www.attorneynow.com
/www.attorneynow.com