There We Go Again

When René Préval invited an OAS technical team to look into the irregularities of the November 28th 2010 presidential election in Haiti in which Michel J. Martelly was fraudulently disqualified by the CEP (Provisional Electoral Council) to make way for Jude Célestin, the governing party candidate, no one thought of broadening the scope of the investigation to include the legislatives. Having established that the results previously announced by the CEP were indeed fraudulent, the OAS technical team recommended or to be more precise ordered that the governing party presidential candidate be excluded from the March 20th run off. Incredibly, no one sought to supervise the team that committed the fraud or instigate a criminal investigation into the matter, even though Article 195 of the 1987 Constitution unequivocally states “In the event of a serious offense committed in the discharge of their duties, the members of the Permanent Electoral Council are liable for prosecution before the High Court of Justice.”
Incidentally, the president-elect and the international community were effusive in their praise for the CEP upon its announcement of the preliminary results on April 4th. Now that the final legislative results are in and the current governing party has a near majority in the chamber of deputies (46 seats out of 99) and a solid majority in the senate (17 seats out of 30), the international community and the president-elect are crying foul. Why this sudden reversal? In light of the overwhelming victory of Michel Martelly and the need for a new beginning, the post of prime minister necessitates new blood, which could not possibly come from the rang of (INITE), which controls a majority in the next Parliament, hence constitutionally entitles to form the next government.
Senator Joseph Lambert, the national coordinator of INITE, was unequivocal about his party prospect: “With this majority, the new president, Michel Martelly, must deal with us. We are in a position to impose a prime minister.” Naturally, his imprudent or rather belligerent statement plus the need for a new beginning may have rattle a few nerves and prompt this latest episode, which is likely to reinforce the notion of Haitians being unreasonable and incapable of governing themselves. True to form, the president-elect is taking a stance consistent with the reliance on the international community and inability to confront internal challenges that characterize Haitian politics for the last 7 years. By appealing to the international community to reject the results involving 18 legislative seats (17 deputies and 1 senator from the governing party), Michel Martelly, the purported outsider, is showing the same characteristics of the politicians he professes to loath. Those poor Haitians who thought they were breaking with the past, although they represented a mere 22.5% of the electorate, are in for a rude awakening.
In light of this latest development, is the international community contemplating the formation of another technical team or postponing the sitting of the new Parliament? With three weeks before the inauguration of the president-elect, another technical team is an unlikely possibility but postponing the sitting of the disputed new members may be in the works. Furthermore, was the OAS technical team’s decision not to investigate the legislative results part of a quid pro quo between René Préval and the international community that backfired? That was probably the case, seeing that Préval had expected his hand-picked candidate to be eliminated, once a thorough review of the voting sheets was completed. Therefore in exchange for allowing the OAS meddling and the eventual disqualification of his party’s presidential candidate, Préval apparently worked out a deal with the international community that effectively restricted the scope of the investigation. Conversely, the international community was banking on the CEP to play fair in light of the riots that followed its botched attempt at subverting the process and the increased vigilance of the electorate, an erroneous assumption that underscores its lack of understanding of the politic of fait accompli practiced by successive generations of Haitian leaders.
Politic is the art of irrationality. Although the CEP fraudulent act is inexcusable, a strong reaction from the international community, such as withholding promised funds for the reconstruction, would only highlight the paternalism and duplicitous nature of its involvement in Haitian affairs. Evidently, the international community was complicit in the matter, because what else can explain the OAS technical team’s decision not to look into the legislative races. Perhaps, the Haitian people will finally see the light and demand an end to the occupation (2004-?), and the love affair between Préval and the international community that has allowed the former to operate at will and subvert the democratic process would come back to haunt the latter.
The latest accusations of fraud (real or imaginary) are part of a political maneuver intended to de-legitimize the majority party and force it to relinquish the coveted post of prime minister to a consensus candidate or, preferably, the president-elect’s own choice. With threats of possible prosecution for corruption or revocation of visas probably on the table, the governing party is expected to capitulate and regroup for future battles. Out of this power play, it is almost certain that the next prime minister will not be able to govern effectively. In the event the 18 contested seats are invalidated, INITE will still have a majority in the senate (16 out of 30), in essence the perfect recipe for gridlock. And the cycle of misery, political turmoil and foreign interference will endure.

Is the World Going Mad?

Nicolas Sarkozy, the little man from France, must be elated at his successes lately. He has suddenly become the world’s policeman. Fresh from coercing an indifferent UN Security Council into an open-ended military adventure against Libya, Sarkozy ordered French forces stationed in Côte d’Ivoire as part of a UN mandate to storm that country’s presidential palace and capture the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo. For a nation suffering from a great power complex in a world dominated by continent-size nations since the end of WWII, he is certainly l’homme du moment. Nevertheless, Sarkozy could never, literally or figuratively, fill the shoes of the man he is trying to emulate: the late Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) whose wartime role as the head of Free French Forces (1940-45) and later his stewardship of France (1959-69) embodied Gallic pride at its best or worst, depending on the observer’s views of the French.
With the US reassessing its priorities and the Obama administration’s lukewarm attitude toward military interventions where U.S security interests are not noticeably at stake, Sarkozy, an astute opportunist, is positioning France to fill the vacuum, albeit on a contingency basis since the country of Louis XIV, Napoleon and De Gaulle could never predominate in today’s world. Moreover the French people have become conscious of the present geopolitical reality and are unenthusiastic in their attitude about France regaining its past glory, which remains a long shot by any measures. Hence, despite his successes, Sarkozy’s popularity continues to sink in that country which in the past considered itself divinely endowed with a mission to civilize the world. This past delusion of grandeur might have been preposterous to others, but not the French. Even Germany, the land of Beethoven, Goethe, Kant, Nietzsche, Wagner, Von Clausewitz and many other illustrious world citizens, was once considered by the French as a nation of beasts that needed to be tamed and brought to the norms of civilization.
Anyone familiar with France’s policies toward Third World countries, particularly in Africa, must have been surprised at Sarkozy’s determined defense of human rights for the Libyan people in his entreaty for a Security Council-sanctioned military intervention in Libya. The fluidity of the resolution was such that the two non-western permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, along with three aspiring permanent members, Brazil, Germany and India, abstained. As per the rules, the abstention of veto-yielding China and Russia enabled the resolution to pass nevertheless. In Côte d’Ivoire, the former crown jewel of French colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa and home to 20.000 French expatriates, Sarkozy was more incensed at Laurent Gbagbo’s defiance, if not insubordination, rather than protecting the civilian population. The notion of a leader of a former French African colony defying France still remains anathema to the French, and the Ivoirian president (2000-11), who for years fought against French neo-colonialism, was made to serve as an example to other would-be recalcitrant.
The responsibility to protect civilian populations, which has become the guiding principle behind military adventurism, is setting the western world on a collusion course with many of the world’s authoritarian regimes. Moreover, it opens the way to politically motivated military interventions that could encourage a return to ideological and regional military alliances, the kind of which triggered countless destructive conflicts before the founding of the United Nations in 1945. In Côte d’Ivoire where French military might is unchallengeable, Sarkozy’s success was more or less assured. In Libya, however, he is walking a fine line, because a month into the UN-sanctioned adventure, experts are talking about a military stalemate and the French are now accusing NATO, the enforcer of the resolution, of not doing enough to bring it to a speedy conclusion. Needless to say, the ramifications of the March 17, 2011, France-inspired Security Council Resolution (1973), may be felt years after the French president would have exited the world stage.
Did Nicolas Sarkozy bite more than he could chew? Noticeably, the chance of bringing down a beleaguered foe for offenses ranging from Khaddafi’s past interferences in Chad, a former French colony abutting Libya, to avenging the September 19, 1989 destruction of a French airliner (UTA flight 772) over Niger, was too great an opportunity for Sarkozy to pass. His animosity toward Khaddafi however has more to do with the pittance France received from Libya (170 million) compared with the 1.5 billion the US and UK settled for the December 21st, 1988 destruction of Pam Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland; both terrorist acts were found to the handiworks of the Libyan Intelligence Services.
Unsurprisingly, few nations seem concerned with the fate of Moammar Khaddafi who, throughout his 41 years in power, managed to offend almost everyone, including his friends and allies. But what should be of concerns to the enforcers of the resolution is the reality that even Satan has sympathizers; the longer the situation endures, the more likely it will tread on Arab sensitivities and enflame passions in the Muslim world. Moreover, this French-inspired military intervention could not have come at a more inopportune moment, given the recent adoption in France of a law banning the wearing of the niqáb (the traditional veil worn by Muslim women), which many Muslims deem anti-Islamic. Thus, the Libyan endeavor may well be detrimental to world peace and Nicolas Sarkozy, who appears obsessed to bringing back the glory of France and settling old scores with Khaddafi, will be solely responsible.

The Revenge of the “Pieds Nus” or Is It?

Haitians are a unique bunch; we hailed from the only country in the world that has a surname: Ayiti Toma, in reference to Thomas the doubter who could not believe that Christ had risen from the grave unless he sees it with his own eyes. Indeed, one needs to see in order to believe what’s going on in that country which, throughout its 207 years of history, has not ceased to befuddle many Haitians and foreigners alike. If the preliminary results released this past Monday withstand the scrutiny of a legal challenge, Michel Joseph Martelly, Kompa singer, nihilist and political neophyte, has been elected president of Haiti by a whopping 67,57% of the vote, in effect trouncing the former first lady and seasoned politician, Myrlande Manigat.
Naturally, the representatives of the self-anointed nation-builders were effusive in their praise of the charade, which was touted as crucial to the rebuilding of the country, although hours after the results were announced, Ms Manigat told her supporters "you voted, and they stole your vote at the tabulation center". She also called the results an "electoral hold-up" and decried her outrage for the country she loves. Since Ms. Manigat hardly fits the profile of the anarcho-populist politicians (a pejorative term commonly used by the anti-progressive forces) whom the international community has undertaken to eliminate from Haiti’s political theater, she is apparently in deep denial over her lost.
What really happened can be traced back to the condescending attitude of the intelligentsia (Manigat is a bona fide member) and apathy of the political class toward the impoverished majority (Préval & his clique), which have been an unsettling reality in Haiti for two centuries. For these two groups, the chicken has apparently come home to roost. Nonetheless, should Martelly’s victory be considered the revenge of the “Pieds Nus”? The victory, advertized as that of the people, is at best pyrrhic since Michel Martelly, the winner of that sham election, is in fact the candidate of the arrogant and uncompromising elite. The process of disenfranchising the impoverished majority, which started with the September 30, 1991 military coup against a popularly elected president and culminated with the February 29, 2004 infamy, has now come full circle.
With this election, the country now belongs to the Arpaids, Boulos, Bakers and the other supranational families that constitute the loathed oligarchy. To put it succinctly, the people have just been duped into digging their own graves, thanks in part to the vile actions of René Préval, a sense of divine right to rule of the intelligentsia and the policy of containment of the international community. Like most Haitians, Martelly professes to always have had a desire to change the country and no one should doubt the sincerity of his statement. The relevant question being: how does he intend to implement his ”Grand Project” when the international community remains obsessively committed to preserving the current system? Like we love to say in our colorful language “Aprè dans tambou lou.” Unless Haiti recovers its sovereignty and rejects the IMF-imposed economic solutions that advance the interests of a few families at the expense of millions, the Haitian people can expect more of the same.
In light of this made-for-history books episode, will the foreign-dominated Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) shut itself out of existence at the end of its current 18-month term? What about the offensive military occupation that reinforces the notion of Haiti needing supervision? Moreover, how does the new president intend to deal with the legions of foreign NGOs that pose an obvious threat to the process of rebuilding the administrative structure of the Haitian state? The Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, Li Baodong, could not have said it better “The government and people of Haiti bear primary responsibility to maintain national security and stability, rebuild their country as well as achieve the sustainable development. The international community should respect the autonomy and leading role of Haiti.”
Great powers’ conspiracy or obligations oblige, Haitians should not expect China to veto the next Security Council resolution on extending the mission. Thus, these crucial steps are unlikely to happen. None other than Edmond Mulet, the head of the incorrectly named U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, remains confident of its long-term presence in the country. He told the Associated Press “The UN will conduct a security study with the new government aimed at bringing the mission back to pre-earthquake staffing levels. Then, the U.N. hopes to continue downsizing the mission "so by let's say 2015 or something we might be leaving." Since the new president had pledged to reconstitute the defunct Haitian Armed Forces (F.A.d’H) as an indispensable tool to combat insecurity and reduce unemployment, his objective effectively coalesces with the security project of the UN, so eloquently articulated by the patronizing and pretentious Edmond Mulet.
Among the abominations that befell Haiti over the last 7 years which, naturally, include the February 29th, 2004 invasion and its occupation on behalf of the elite, this one stands out since the impoverished masses are now complicit in this undeserving fate. Nonetheless even well-thought out political decisions always failed the expectations of their creator and, in worse case scenarios, took a life of their own. Hopefully, this charade may well provide the impetus for self-introspection among the millions of Haitians, who never relinquished their inalienable right to self-determination as envisioned by their valiant ancestors, and help revive the Dessalinian spirit.

A Nation Abandoned by its Guardians

The most despicable aspect of what has been going on in Haiti since February 29th 2004 is not the Security Council-mandated occupation itself but the deafening silence of Haitian intellectuals, the traditional guardians of the country’s culture and moral force behind its raison d’être. It seems that the group is of the opinion that speaking ill of the occupation is tantamount to rejecting the precepts of western civilization, which they so admired. As an ensemble, they have long rejected the concept of Negritude and instead established themselves as fanatical protectors of western orthodoxies in Haiti, a country essentially African, superficially westernized and, as fate would have it, condemned by geography.
In their vanity, Haitian intellectuals remain fond of quoting philosophers of the enlightenment period while failing to realize that the brilliant concepts emanated from these geniuses’ minds were never meant for people like them. In fact many philosophers of that period remained silent of the subject or actively supported the enslavement of other races based on the unscientific argument they were genetically and intellectually inferior to their enlightened European masters. It is therefore inconceivable that Haiti’s intelligentsia, the nation’s traditional moral guardian, abdicated that role and abandoned the country to an undeserving fate in the face of relentless onslaughts from vindictive and irredeemable oppressors.
They (the intelligentsia) never accepted the reality that the occupation of Haiti in 2004, the year of the bicentennial of its epic victory against oppression and arrogance, was a well conceived strategy of the revanchists. The two centuries during which Haiti was the victim of piracy, extortion, economic sabotage and embargoes, military threats and occupations and political persecutions did not dampen the collaborative tendencies of the intelligentsia or awaken then from their naïveté. Conclusively these conformists or rather impenitent collaborators, who selfishly long for a Prix Goncourt or other literary honors commending their westernization, will be judged harshly by history and future generations of Haitians.
Who could ever forget Gérard Gourges, a scholar revered by thousands of former pupils, whose farcical attempt to seize the presidency on February 7th, 2001 dealt a lethal blow to a promising, albeit imperfect, democratic experiment that saw the first peaceful transfer of power in Haiti? His action, unfortunately, set the stage for the February 29th 2004 infamy. What about Leslie Manigat’s acrimonious response to his defeat in the 2006 presidential election when he lambasted the voters’ rejection of his candidacy and preference of René Préval as that a dog returning to its vomit? In retrospect, the esteemed Professor and former president was right about the electorate’s impulsive choice, but his vindictiveness characterized the condescension and disdain that have been the hallmarks of the uneven relationship existing between the intelligentsia and the mostly illiterate citizenry.
The 2004 foreign-instigated armed rebellion headed by Guy Philippe, which the intelligentsia actively supported, was by all measures a testament of the group’s moral deficiencies. The group’s indifference toward the achievement of 1804 not only helped bring about the Great experiment (2004-?) conceived in the dark rooms of the UN but also nullified its role as torch-bearer in an ongoing struggle on behalf of the nation and, by extension, a whole race. Deprived of a moral guide, Haiti’s marginalization is now completed; its destiny hijacked by impostors and impenitent collaborators operating in a vacuum. Is the proliferation of political parties, 66 in this year’s elections excluding those disqualified by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), a cultural trait or the discernible result of the intelligentsia’s abdication of its role as moral guide of the nation?
Had the Jewish intelligentsia not been uncompromising in protecting the Jewish identity, through centuries of unremitting persecutions, Judaism and the Jewish people would now be a footnote of history. In their twisted logic, Haitian intellectuals associate Negritude with Papa Doc Duvalier, a champion of that philosophy, whom they revile as a tyrant who forever sullied the concept with his personality cult and Vodou-inspired rule. Nevertheless, a perfunctory examination of the challenges Papa Doc faced (the combined enmity of Catholic Church, the western powers, the US-trained Army and the mulatto elite) only validates the defective and duplicitous nature of this western-inspired mind-set. Had not Christianity, the foundation of western civilization, been used as an effective tool in the enslavement groups or races that were considered “others”? Was Papa Doc wrong in using Vodou as a counterbalance against relentless attempts to subjugate his people or sabotage his rule, which sought to awaken the Haitian tradition of self-sacrifices for a greater cause?
This mundane assessment of the reality proves too complex for the country’s intelligentsia to understand, because the group is philosophically bankrupt, hopelessly self-centered and morally dysfunctional as a result of its westernization. Haiti is now abandoned to an uncertain fate; its people deprived of a raison d’être, which helps explain the current occupation (2004-?) by forces determined to erase its identity. Under the Great experiment, present-day Haiti is a 21st century version of a plantation where the Master controls every aspect of its subjects’ lives right down to their way of thinking. This is why combating criminality and other societal shortcomings, common in every area of the globe, takes precedence over the need to articulate our inalienable right of self-determination. It is also in that context the fraudulent election was declared valid by the international community and the people, terrorized by the guns of MINUSTAH, submissively agreed.