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#2182:Re: #2173: Dictator/democracy discussion: a reply to Poincy
From:HYSEKA@aol.com
I think we must be very careful when it comes to this issue. We need to admit
first of all, that Haiti has had enough experiences with strong men who did
not really bring much change to the lives of the people, except for Henri
Christophe perhaps. Also, what Haiti needs is strong and solid institutions,
and not necessarily strong, but definitely intelligent and dedicated
political leaders.
It is (at least to me), common sense that once a leader or a party in power
is doing his/her job, (the job that he/she was elected to do) and if he/she
is doing it well, he/she will keep getting the confidence of the people.
Thus, he or his party will be reelected.
We have a political culture where leaders tend to dominate over ideas. People
indeed associate with a party, not necessarily because they believe in a
certain political ideology or philosophy, but because of the particular
individual who is the head of that party. If you now add to that, the
equation of a strong man who will be the great all mighty of Haitian
politics, you will be writing a recipe for increase corruption, arm-twisting
and so forth.
The real issue I think, is not to keep the poor uneducated masses, away from
the polling booth. It is rather for the political parties to try and attract
some of our best minds to their cause, and give those technocrats the chance
to become leaders of our municipalities, legislative and senatorial chambers,
ministries, etc.
The poor uneducated masses do not need to be as bright as many of us are, to
understand the tangibles such as water wells, new roads, public schools,
hospitals, agrarian reforms, etc.
That is all I will say on that issue. I do think however, that we need to
step away from the old "Pouvoir aux plus Capables" theory in Haitian Politics.
Hyppolite Pierre