13834: Ewen: Re: 13823: Re: 13816: Simidor replies to Laleau (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stephen Ewen <sewe0171@fau.edu>


>For now, the task is to rid the country of the Lavalas
>locust.  The next time people have to vote, they will >want to see the
fine print.  And if
>the same cycle threatens to repeat itself?  Why, it will be >up to the
people to throw
>the new bums out.  Without waiting five years to do it.

> The clamor to let Aristide complete his five-year term has nothing to do
with
> democracy or common sense.  If you hire a contractor for a job, and from
day one he
> is stealing from you, do you feel bound by the contract he is so glibly
breaking, or do
> you fire him?  Clearly the answer in Haiti is to fire him.


With all due respect, Mr. Simidor, I find this very troubling coming from
such an intelligent fellow as yourself.  And I am not at all talking about
Lavalas, per se.  I am talking about principles of democracy and roles
within it.

The general "rules of the game" of democracy indicate that actors must
operate within societally agreed upon sets of rules for placing and
removing their leaders.  In democracies, this means, among other sets of
principles, that Presidents (whose office is hugely different from a
contractor) must serve out their time in office, even if they become
unpopular, or else face removal from office *from prescribed
Constitutional protocol*, such as impeachment by the legislature for
specifically defined and codified offenses.  To advocate for removal from
office of any elected official in an emerging democracy *apart from
democratic processes* is to strike against that emerging democracy in its
very form, and to risk a reversal in the country into non-democratic
governmental forms.  At core, that is what you appear to be advocating
for, and I am not so sure you really would think such a course of action
is best for Haiti's long-term interest.

There simply MUST be a respect for and an abiding by "the rules of the
game" of democracy for democracy to work--and certainly for emerging
democracies to fully consolidate and enter into a phase of
long-continuance.  If you and others do not like some governmental
leader--any leader--that is to be your fully respected opinion.
Conversely, if others like the same or still other leaders, that is to be
their fully respected opinion.  But expression of such opinions MUST be
carried out within the rules of the game of democracy.  And as I read the
Haitian Constitution of right now, those rules are very clearly defined.

A suspicion that Aristide will become another "President for Life," or
evidence that some of his supporters have chanted something to this end at
a rally, is no where near the same as an official proclamation from him of
the same.  You are advocating for the President to be removed
extra-Constitutionally, when as yet he has not gone beyond his
Constitutionally proscribed term in office.  Again, and if I read you
correctly, I am not so sure you really believe that is in Haiti's
long-term best interest in terms of democracy.  In any event, it is
hardly, to use your term, "a foregone conclusion" that Aristide will will
stay beyond five years.

As mentioned above, all Haitians must come to play by the rules of the
game of their emerging democracy, or else risk losing it in its form (I am
not talking about people and personalities here).  For Haitians to
continue to utilize what a friend calls "The Three As" (America, the Army,
and Ajan ["money," literally "silver"]), or coups d'etat, or any other
non-Constitutionally sanctioned means to bring about governmental change,
is to bring a reversal to the progress that Haiti has made in democracy.

In the game of democracy, there will always be winners and losers,
relatively speaking.  If one group lost this time, maybe they will win
next time, and vice-versa.  Either way, it is the onus *of each group* to
make their case to the people both WITHIN the game and BY THE RULES of the
game, and not skirt them, and then abide by the outcomes until perhpas
next time.

Stephen Ewen,
sewe0171@fau.edu





----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Corbett" <corbetre@webster.edu>
To: "Haiti mailing list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:20 PM
Subject: 13823: Re: 13816: Simidor replies to Laleau (fwd)


>
> From: karioka9@arczip.com
>
> On 27 Nov 2002 NLaleau@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Dear Daniel--I am glad to hear that there is some sane and uncorrupted
> > force on the scene in Haiti. What makes you think they won't go the
> > way of other forces that at one time were also sane and uncorrupted?
> > nancy laleau
> >
> Because, dear Nancy, history is not really a broken record.  Only those
who refuse to
> learn from the past are condemned to repeat its errors.
>
> Lavalas, because of who Aristide was 12-15 years ago, was a very hard,
very painful
> lesson for the people to learn.  But the reality of life in Haiti is an
even harder and
> more painful task master.  For now, the task is to rid the country of
the Lavalas
> locust.  The next time people have to vote, they will want to see the
fine print.  And if
> the same cycle threatens to repeat itself?  Why, it will be up to the
people to throw
> the new bums out.  Without waiting five years to do it.
>
> The clamor to let Aristide complete his five-year term has nothing to do
with
> democracy or common sense.  If you hire a contractor for a job, and from
day one he
> is stealing from you, do you feel bound by the contract he is so glibly
breaking, or do
> you fire him?  Clearly the answer in Haiti is to fire him.
>
> One of the slogans in the recent pro-Lavalas demonstration was: Aristide
for life or
> until the second coming of Jesus Christ!  As a rule, Haitian heads of
state (with very
> few exceptions) do not wait for the end of their terms to break the
Constitution and
> claim more power for themselves (a new term or the presidency for life).
With
> Aristide, this is already a foregone conclusion.
>
> Haitians are a proverbially patient people.  But their patience is
finally running out.
> Enough is enough, they are saying, let's break the damn, vicious cycle.
If Aristide
> and his puppet Neptune really want to avoid a blood bath (instead of
threatening one,
> like the hysterical pedophile Micanor did in his stead), all they have
to do is to step
> aside.
>
> Daniel Simidor
>
>
>
>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Corbett" <corbetre@webster.edu>
To: "Haiti mailing list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:20 PM
Subject: 13823: Re: 13816: Simidor replies to Laleau (fwd)


>
> From: karioka9@arczip.com
>
> On 27 Nov 2002 NLaleau@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Dear Daniel--I am glad to hear that there is some sane and uncorrupted
> > force on the scene in Haiti. What makes you think they won't go the
> > way of other forces that at one time were also sane and uncorrupted?
> > nancy laleau
> >
> Because, dear Nancy, history is not really a broken record.  Only those
who refuse to
> learn from the past are condemned to repeat its errors.
>
> Lavalas, because of who Aristide was 12-15 years ago, was a very hard,
very painful
> lesson for the people to learn.  But the reality of life in Haiti is an
even harder and
> more painful task master.  For now, the task is to rid the country of
the Lavalas
> locust.  The next time people have to vote, they will want to see the
fine print.  And if
> the same cycle threatens to repeat itself?  Why, it will be up to the
people to throw
> the new bums out.  Without waiting five years to do it.
>
> The clamor to let Aristide complete his five-year term has nothing to do
with
> democracy or common sense.  If you hire a contractor for a job, and from
day one he
> is stealing from you, do you feel bound by the contract he is so glibly
breaking, or do
> you fire him?  Clearly the answer in Haiti is to fire him.
>
> One of the slogans in the recent pro-Lavalas demonstration was: Aristide
for life or
> until the second coming of Jesus Christ!  As a rule, Haitian heads of
state (with very
> few exceptions) do not wait for the end of their terms to break the
Constitution and
> claim more power for themselves (a new term or the presidency for life).
With
> Aristide, this is already a foregone conclusion.
>
> Haitians are a proverbially patient people.  But their patience is
finally running out.
> Enough is enough, they are saying, let's break the damn, vicious cycle.
If Aristide
> and his puppet Neptune really want to avoid a blood bath (instead of
threatening one,
> like the hysterical pedophile Micanor did in his stead), all they have
to do is to step
> aside.
>
> Daniel Simidor
>
>
>
>