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#309: Clinton Letter on Haiti (fwd)
From:nozier@tradewind.net
Clinton Letter on Haiti
To: National Desk
Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2100
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released
today by the White House:
August 16, 1999
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM
THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section
561(b) of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related
Programs Appropriations Act, 1999 (FOAA), as enacted in Public Law
105-277, I hereby report to the Congress that the central Government
of Haiti: (1) has achieved a trans-parent settlement of the contested
April 1997 elections, and (2) has made concrete progress on the
constitution of a credible and competent provisional electoral
council that is acceptable to a broad spectrum of political parties
and civic groups in Haiti. Section 561(b) states that funds
appropriated by the FOAA and made available to support elections in
Haiti shall not be restricted if I report to the Congress that the
central Government of Haiti has met the two aforementioned criteria.
The first criterion in section 561(b) of the FOAA, a transparent
settlement of the contested April 1997 elections, was cumulatively
met by a public declaration by the Provisional Electoral Council
(CEP) on June 11 and the promulgation of the Electoral Law, which was
published in the national gazette Le Moniteur July 19, and
republished with corrections July 22. Taken together, these two acts
establish that 19 Senate seats will be run in the legislative and
local elections projected for late 1999. Included in this number are
the two still-contested Senate seats from April 1997. Article 63 of
the Electoral Law specifically states "the number of Senators to be
elected in the upcoming elections shall be determined by the CEP."
This authority is also provided in Article 16. Article 130 states
that the elections are to fill Senate seats vacant by "fact or law."
Pursuant to its authority to determine which seats will be
competed, the CEP declared publicly on June 11 that it "has decided
to call elections to fill all Senate positions currently vacant,
whether de facto or de jure, without distinction." In a number of
subsequent public statements, as well as in private assurances to the
Embassy and others in the international community, CEP officials
explicitly and unanimously reiterated that because there are
presently eight sitting Senators and the Constitution calls for a
Senate of 27 Senators, a total of 19 Senate seats will be competed,
including the two still-contested positions.
The second criterion, concrete progress on constituting a
competent, credible, and broadly acceptable CEP, was achieved March
16 when President Preval announced that nine-member body's
composition after consultations with the five-party Espace de
Concertation. Since that time, the CEP has performed in a competent,
even-handed, and credible manner and has been deemed acceptable even
by parties and movements who stand in staunch opposition to the
government.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM J. CLINTON