a119: Re: a1187: Re: Aristide campaigns for peace and unity! (#a1185) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Hyppolite Pierre <hpierre@irsp.org>

Well, if you think that Lavalas is bad, if you think Aristide is such an
evil, let us all pray God that the Convergence never gets the chance to be
in power. You would be so shocked and surprised, that most of you on this
list would only post anonimously.

What we must realize is that Aristide also is dealing with tremendous
political pressure. He has to deal with rank and files whom he probably no
longer trusts completely, potential usurpers of power, and formidable
international pressure. He made a choice, albeit I think a bad one, to stick
with the hawks of the party. At least, no matter how bad the situation is
right now in Haiti for some journalists and others, there is a vociferous
opposition that pretty much moves in and around the country. What the
journalists and their friends should focus on, as some do, is good laws that
are enforced, and which protect them agaisnt civilians or thugs that attack
them.

Now, you have 15 political parties all under the same banner called the
Convergence. To this day, they haven't even been able to find consensus to
have one leader. After 2 years, they have yet to even have a "Convention"
where they present their platform to the electorate. Why? I bet you it is
because they are suspicious of each other, rather than working under one
leadership. "Se mwen ki pou prezidan" (I must be the president) seems to be
their only principle. Haitians seem obssessed with the presidency. We must
not forget that for instance in 1987, when Gérard Gourgue was poised to win
the presidency, there were well over 100 candidates for that seat. We are
now also dealing with remnants of this issue, I am afraid.

Worse, the Convergence also focus all their energy on having the
international community do their work for them. Well, if they inspire your
confidence, I wish you luck. I will say one more thing.

I remain convinced that Aristide and the Lavalas party can still make a
difference. What they have to do is remain first and foremost focused on the
issues. They must work towards a more rational society. By that I mean
vigorous enforcement of law, and order, effective administration, and
transparency. Even when they were to fail in areas like effective economic
growth, they would have created structural stability in public
administration, and so hopefully the next administration could do better.
For that, they must remember the importance of technocrats in any modern
society, and trust them to do the work. They must therefore de-politicize
serious issues and deal with them head-on. Last but not least, they must
focus on the Diaspora as potential small investors throughout the country,
and as a determining economic weight on the balance for at least the next 10
years.

Hyppolite Pierre
IRSP
http://www.irsp.org