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6591: Morse responds to Backer (fwd)
From: OLOFFSONRAM@aol.com
1) I don't remember any significant addressing of the issues during the
parliamentary campaign season. I didn't watch the candidates address their
concerns on Telemax. There were no televised debates. I never watch Tele
National. What I did notice however was that a few of the opposition rallies
were broken up by mobs throwing urine, feces and rocks. This is what caught
my attention. This happened on Champ de Mars, when the commercants were
having a rally and I believe it happened to Evans Paul in Leogane. When these
episodes took place the police kept their distance permitting it to happen.
This disturbed me. Some candidates started pulling out before the elections
because of the violence being inflicted on opposition party members. This
also caught my attention. Politicians getting killed. At one point we
Corbeters were discussing whether there were five or twelve political murders.
Jean Dominique was killed during this period.
2) I don't believe the parties were permitted to give it their best shot. I
think the ruling party wants a one party system and sees opposition as a
threat to their existence.
3) To be honest with you, I don't remember what I expected. I didn't expect
much once I saw the May 28th 1999 commercants/Champ de Mars fiasco.I think
some of my main concerns at the time were the politicizing of the police. To
have a police force that defends one party rather than a society as a whole
with a set of laws can be a dangerous thing. I think I was also concerned at
the time that a government which refused to cooperate with the international
community might have to establish questionable relations with cartels and
underground economies.
When we did discuss the elections, I think we debated mostly as to whether
the people were going to register to vote(they did) and whether they were
going to actually vote(they did) in the parliamentary elections. The heavy
participation of voters during the parliamentary elections has never been
argued. The people voted en masse.
Richard Morse