8564: President Aristide says negotiations will resume after Caricom summit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <maxblanchet@worldnet.att.net>

Haiti: President Aristide says negotiations will resume after Caricom summit
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jul 5, 2001


Text of report by Haitian Metropole radio on 5 July; passages within double
oblique strokes in Creole

The negotiations between the Lavalas Family [FL] and the Democratic
Convergence will resume soon, Jean-Bertrand Aristide has said, promising to
get the discussions back on track when he returns from the Bahamas. The
Lavalas leader spoke of the need for a balanced agreement. Wendell Theodore
reports the following:

[Theodore - recording] While the Lavalas Family and the Convergence refuse
to take responsibility after the three days of discussions that took place
under the aegis of the OAS at the Montana Hotel, the president of the
republic had his word to say. Consultations with the power base are under
way and, as regards a compromise, Aristide announced that discussions will
resume when he returns from the Bahamas. And this will take place after the
contacts made with the grass roots have been evaluated. Aristide said the
following:

[Aristide] //Once I get back I shall evaluate what was done in my absence
and what I shall be doing in Nassau, for what I am going to do in Nassau
will be related to the dialogues to get out of the crisis. I hope that the
conditions will be met. If I have to sit with them, as has always been my
wish, then I shall be happy to do so. For it is my duty and I shall do it
with all my heart so that together among Haitians we may find a solution
that will allow us to move forward.//

[Theodore] In other words, it is just a matter of taking a break, as Prime
Minister Cherestal said. The president of the republic, who recognizes that
the crisis has lasted long enough, talks about the need for a balanced
agreement among those involved in the discussions.

[Aristide] //I have chosen to look forward with you so that before long we
may resume the dialogue, we may start talking together among Haitians until
we find a balanced agreement to get out of the political and economic
crisis.//

[Theodore] During the second day of talks at the Montana Hotel, both
protagonists prided themselves on being able to reach an agreement on the
method for the formation of the new Provisional Electoral Council [CEP]. The
agreement consisted of the creation of a largely representative CEP. The
protagonists seemed to applaud the method and since then the negotiations do
not seem to have made any progress at all regarding the CEP's mission. How
many elections will the CEP have to hold? Will the 21 May elections have to
be annulled? Will the 26 November elections have to be reconsidered? All
those questions made the CEP's mission the main stumbling block. And it is
not necessary to ask the head of state whether the FL is ready to make
concessions regarding the 21 May elections.

[Aristide] //There was a question a while ago that referred to the
consultations that are under way. As I have already told you contacts are
being increased and, as from tomorrow [5 July], we shall be able to see what
the reactions of the grass roots are so that we can evaluate them. It is a
good thing in democracy when the rights of all can be respected, the right
to say what one thinks and to express oneself. When you compare what that
person thinks with what somebody else thinks in order to make an assessment;
then when you move on you will walk with confidence. I encourage everybody
who is involved in the dialogues not to dwell on them too long so that we
can move on.//

[Theodore] Anyway, the discussions will resume soon, according to the head
of state but no official date has been fixed. The president, who speaks of a
solution and dialogue among Haitians, kept himself from saying whether the
negotiations will take place with or without the presence of the OAS
emissaries. The president left the country yesterday to take part in the
22nd Caricom summit which is being held in the Bahamas.

Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1145 gmt 5 Jul 01

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.