By Moise Garcon
Some folks wanna sound fair and neutral they take the easy way by blaming both sides. This is pure ignorance. If you want to be fair first you gotta learn the facts. Second you gotta know the law. So far only those who oppose fraudulent elections are quoting the constitution.
The CEP and the government have stopped referring to the electoral decree and the constitution for a while now. The reason is simple: They never respect any legal deadlines and most actions have been unconstitutional. For Martelly we can refer to most decrees (at the beginning he only promised to issue one). For Evans Paul he became PM under a consensus that failed coupled days after it was signed. He never got the blessings of the parliament (49th legislature that ended in January 2015) so once the 50th legislature started working even illegally on January 10th and 11th 2016 (without the required national assembly which is still due) Evans Paul should have resigned. He never did because in Haiti people will do the right thing only if you pressure them. So he told all his friends and partners that he won’t resign because you never know.
The never know he’s referring to is simply the fact that he could easily use some of the propagandists in Haiti and abroad to misinterpret the article 149 of the constitution, play on people’s perceptions that he is popular and friends of everyone regardless then be the best alternative in case Martelly must leave on February 7th and no elected president ready to replace him….
KP has been playing all sides because becoming president would be the ultimate jackpot for him. That fact alone has made Martelly ‘ s cycle very angry reason why Jean Renel Sanon (Palace secretary) and others were already fighting to replace Evans Paul before February 7th. All these fights have been a serious distraction for Tet Kale. They have been so distracted that they assumed they still got time. If you remember the beginning of all this electoral crisis that started since 2012 you might understand why time has been the best friend of the Martelly and Lamothe regime…
Nevertheless, time never stops. And right now time is so against this regime. January 24th was the last deadline to hold the run off and partial elections to close this controversial chapter and may be get away with most of it….
However, the opposition and the engaged citizens in Haiti and abroad were proactive. By keeping the pressure on all actors involved. By playing the right cards at the right time and most importantly by bringing unity and Synergy into the strategically process….results became real!
The white house had to listen to some independent consultants. Secretary John Kerry who’ve been flooded with letters and calls and complaints from all sides had to review his priorities to finally pick up the phone and call Martelly to tell him that game is practically over for this cat and mouse elections. Opont also got his calls. So the players had to deal with the reality. And cancelling the January 24th elections becomes unavoidable. Unfortunately for them, cancelling the elections doesn’t automatically stop the resistance on the ground…
Recently Senator Privert, the new Senate president has be courteous as usual and spent hours working with the deputies, the church, the private sector, the diplomats, thr president and others to finalize an accord that would facilitate peace and an easier transition, arrogance got in the way because Martelly is led to believe that holding the elections on Sunday is a huge bargaining chip. He assumed he could use that to get what he wants and more. Once again, the regime was too distracted so they lost track of everything. Privert who knows that simply left without a deal….
Instead of taking the time to process and reassess Martelly decided to go on TV with Evans Paul and Minister Germain in order to sell a story to the Haitian people. Tet Kale believes that politic is all about PERCEPTION in Haiti, and there again they couldn’t be more wrong. In less than 24 hours after the media stunt most things they say backfired. And this stunt will be used against them in the future and I’m sure they will forever regret it.
In some situation silence is golden. And when anyone realizes that winning is out of reach the best thing to do is to accept defeat and do what’s needed to be done.
In Martelly ‘s case more confrontations definitely equal suicide….The wise thing to do now is to seat down with the opposing team and finalize an accord for a democratic transition which can be a win-win for all parties and most importantly the stability of the Country.
Afer all, February 7th, per the amended constitution is not about the inauguration of a new president no matter what (which is where the core group got it all wrong), but this symbolic date is more about the end of the calendar for the current president, in our case now, Martelly.
Of course Martelly feels entitled to an extension because the 49th legislature did it for Preval and he so needs this extension to finish what he started for Jovenel Moise, his protégé. But the reality is that this cannot happen. The context and the facts are so different.
It is what it is and all of us have to deal with it one way or another!
#betterhaitians #betterha
