20135: Marina: Gerard Latortue - New Prime Minister (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Marina <marinawus@yahoo.com>

Corbett Members:

Find attached a position paper from Haiti's New Prime
Minister, Gerard Latortue.

**********************

A POSITION PAPER*

INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE CONFERENCE
“HAITI: IDEAS FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”
MARCH 13, 2003 - WASHINGTON D.C,

Gerard R. Latortue

1. GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS

Solution to the Political Crisis

When one considers the positions of the international
community, of the Haitian democratic opposition, of
the students organizations, and of the Haitian civil
society in general, a logical conclusion is that there
MUST be a solution to the political crisis before any
actions can be undertaken to even begin to reduce the
continued deterioration of social conditions and to
alleviate chronic poverty in Haiti. OAS resolution 822
offers the framework for a possible solution. It is
now up to the OAS to decide how it will respond to the
non-compliance with the resolution on the part of the
Haitian actors.

Since actions by the opposition and the Civil Society
were predicated upon the application by the Haitian
authorities of certain clauses of 822, it appears that
at this time the OAS is faced with four options: 1)
wait as long as it takes to see if the Haitian
government will live up to its commitments regarding
the resolution; 2) vote a new resolution; 3) keep on
sending missions to Haiti; and 4) In concert with the
international community at large and vital forces in
Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora, come forth with an
imposable scenario to end the unbearable suffering of
the Haitian people, in conformity with the
“Responsibility to Protect” a population in danger,
without infringing upon the right of the Haitians to
self-determination. (Reference: Report of the
International Commission on Intervention and State
Sovereignty).

Regarding the formation of the CEP and the holding of
elections, one thing is certain: there is no lasting
solution to the crisis without democratic, free, and
fair elections. However, as long as the institutions
of the country, particularly the Police and the
Judiciary are under the control of the party in power,
allowing for persecution of dissenting voices by
supporters of the government, there will be no
security and there will NOT be enough confidence for
non-lavalas candidates to participate in the
elections, even with the presence of foreign monitors.
(Reference: recent statements by Louis Joinet, David
Lee, and Human Rights Organizations). This is also the
consensus coming today from leaders of the democratic
opposition, civil society, religious organizations,
women groups, and the Haitian public at large. Looking
back and revising statements made by different leaders
over the 1986-1990 period, one can now recognize the
incredible truth that the December 1990 presidential
elections, contrarily to what was expected to happen
in the aborted 1987 elections, were in fact won by the
faction that projected no firm belief in free
elections as a fundamental part of the democratic
process.

Overview of Proposal for Political Reforms
The organization of flawed or fraudulent elections
under the constitution of 1987 started to handicap
good governance in Haiti since 1995 (Reference:
Reports by the Carter Center as well as by the
International Republican Institute - IRI). An already
bad situation was made worst with the polls of 1997
and 2000. Grossly fraudulent elections like those
witnessed in Haiti’s recent history sow the seeds of
discord within the population. They create the kind of
frustration, which, when gone unsolved for too long,
fosters social instability. In order to bring Haiti on
the path of socio-economic progress, the chain of
fraudulent elections must be broken, by creating, as a
first step, conditions that are conducive to full
participation in the electoral process.
Oftentimes Haitians complain about the high number of
political parties within the political system. Whether
this is warranted or not, many think that the plethora
of political parties is part of the problem. People
are free to have as many political parties as they
want. However, as long as there are not two, three or
even four major parties that can clearly make a
difference and stabilize the system, the political
cacophony will continue. In order to address this
problem, I would like to make the following proposal:

• All the political parties or coalitions of parties
that had fielded candidates for at least 30 percent of
available seats during the aborted May 2000 elections
will receive an equal financial support from the state
during the upcoming democratic, free and fair
elections.

• The three parties or coalitions of parties that will
have received the most votes in the upcoming elections
will receive a budgeted financial support from the
state over the next ten years following the elections.


Those measures should help establish a viable party
system in the country, with two to three major
parties.

Overview of Proposal for Public Security and Judicial
Reforms

Public security and an adequately working judicial
system constitute another key requirement to put Haiti
on the path to socio-economic progress. It is possible
to devise a security plan that would increase the
safety of Haitians in their homes, in their offices,
on the streets, on the major roads or wherever they
might be in the country. A practical scenario to
reform the judicial system, particularly through the
elimination of corruption, would accompany such a
plan. Professional and efficient police work should
help bring down the crime rate that has skyrocketed in
Haiti in recent years. In so doing, the police would
fulfill its important role as the auxiliary of the
judicial system.

Until a de-politicized police force can effectively
ensure public security, the OAS Special Mission to
Haiti has received the mandate to “improve security
conditions relating to political activity” by
providing “assistance in the development of mechanisms
and procedures to ensure the security of all political
parties, their officers and candidates, as part of
creating a propitious climate for future elections in
the country”. This is a noble objective assigned to
the Special Mission. However, as international
analysts and Haitian political leaders (Haiti
Democracy Project and MDN/MPSN) have been noticing
recently, the Mission cannot fulfill this objective
with one hundred police monitors. There must be “a
force of some 2,000 to 3,000 election security
monitors” to supervise the disarmament of the
so-called “popular armies” and to create the
“propitious climate for elections”. Furthermore, it
would be worthwhile for the international community to
consider assisting Haiti in setting up a national
security force responsible, among other things, for
the protection of the integrity of the national
territory, considering the pervasiveness of drug
transit routes throughout Haiti, at the borders, and
in the territorial waters.

2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC VISION (in the framework of a
dynamic public/private sectors partnership)

FIVE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• Build up the social infrastructures: healthcare,
education, sanitation, social housing, drinking water,
and social safety net.

• Build up the economic infrastructures: roads,
telecommunication, energy, ports and airports
(Including the protection of public investments
through the creation of a “Service for the Maintenance
of Public Works and Public Equipments).

• Create jobs and generate revenues in the different
regions of the country through a decentralized
framework.
• Reduce Poverty, promote sustainable development and
protection of the environment, and accelerate the
process of national and regional integration.

• Create an environment conducive to investments for
the purpose of increasing national production by,
among other things, promoting human resources
development and fighting corruption.

3. GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM

• Environmental protection and production of cash
crops (Tropical Fruits / Reforestation).

• Revitalization of the Assembly Industry and
Handicraft.

• Modernization of the public enterprises that have
already been identified.

• New investments (local, foreign, and expatriate
Haitians).

LONG TERM

• Creation of a network of small and medium scale
enterprises in the different regions of the country.

• Modernization of the economic structures by
promoting reforms and entrepreneurial activities in
key sub-sectors:

Agriculture

? Establishment of the national land register.
? Enactment of land reform through the regrouping of
farmlands.
? Provision of equipment and small agricultural
machinery to farmers under rent or sale contracts.
? Provision of agricultural credit under preferential
conditions.
? Construction of lakes and ponds in rural areas for
agricultural purposes.
? Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
? Promotion of Animal Husbandry.

Industry

? Promotion of Building Materials (cements, bricks and
marbles).
? Promotion of Agribusiness, including the
conservation or the transformation of fruits and
vegetables.
? Promotion of Metallurgic and mechanic industries.
? Promotion of Pharmaceutical industries including the
industrialization of medicinal plants.
? Promotion of Vegetable Oils.
? Promotion of Essential oils.
? Promotion of Textile and clothing products,
especially for the Assembly Industry.

Services

? Promotion of Tourism, with special emphasis on
attracting Haitians living abroad.
? Promotion of New Information technologies.
? Promotion of Insurance, Banking and other Financial
Services.
? Promotion of Private Consulting Firms.
? Promotion of Sport, Art, Music and Folklore.
? Promotion of Transportation Enterprises.

Overview of Proposal for Growth Opportunity Through
the Production of Tropical Fruits (Reforestation)

The grim socio-economic conditions of Haiti call for
firm strategic decisions to be made now so that as the
population reaches the 20 million predicted by the end
of the next two decades, the country may be able to
cope with the exigencies of the global economy. About
60 percent of Haitians live in the countryside,
farming lands that are 95 percent eroded. Sixty
percent of the total land area has slopes greater than
20 percent.

To remedy this situation, I would like to propose that
the 60% of mountainous and denuded area, that is
around 1.6 million hectares, be reforested with
tropical fruit trees. According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
“demand prospects for tropical fruits other than
bananas are expected to be favorable over the next
decade (the fresh fruits included in these projections
are pineapples, mangoes, avocados and papayas). The
projected global average annual growth in demand for
the four fruits would range from 3 to 4.5 percent.
Compounded over ten years from a base period of
1993-1995, import demand would increase by an average
of 40 percent by the year 2005”. Haiti exports
annually around 14,000 metric tons of Francis Mangoes
(a unique variety, available only from Haiti).
Specializing in tropical fruits production could give
Haiti an edge in the global tropical fruits market,
which promises to reach into the tens of billions of
dollars in the decades to come.

4. SOCIAL IMPROVEMENTS

Overview of proposal for social improvements

The social conditions in Haiti can improve enormously
through a partnership between the state and potential
homeowners in the lower classes. The proposal for
social improvements includes the creation of modern
villages where modest houses can be built in both
rural and urban areas. The only cost from the state in
this program would come in the form of logistical and
technical support. Such assistance from the state
would allow the citizens who would participate in the
program to reduce by about 2/3 the cost of building a
decent home. This would create the kind of environment
that would facilitate the dispensing of services such
as education, healthcare, public security, telephone,
electricity, running water, leisure, and marketplaces
to the vast majority of people who are now scattered
over the countryside without any of those services.

5. WAYS AND MEANS

SHORT-TERM

• Reallocation of national resources based on fiscal
discipline and relentless fight against all forms of
corruption.

• Renegotiation with the international community
(Bilateral and multilateral) of a new program of
cooperation with emphasis on accountability, regular
reporting, and the respect of norms and procedures
when awarding contracts and in all public
procurements.

• Reduction in all non-essential expenses in
government activities including purchasing of
luxurious vehicles and travel abroad.


MEDIUM-TERM

• Fiscal reform based on the simplification and
rationalization of the revenue collection system and
continuous fight against corruption.

• Systematic channeling of financial resources from
expatriate Haitians (about $500 million a year) to
foster growth in the motherland economy.

• Strengthening of international cooperation with our
traditional partners particularly the International
Financial Institutions

LONG-TERM

• Increased revenues in the Framework of Disciplined
Fiscal Policy and an enlarged tax base.

• Fight against all forms of corruption and frauds in
revenue collection and public procurements.

• Continuation of external cooperation with our
traditional partners

• Continuation of the channeling of financial
resources from expatriate Haitians

Overview of proposal for the opportunity to generate
financial resources from expatriate Haitians

The goal would be to generate resources, potentially
$500 million a year, to finance the development
program of the government through the sale of
“Development Coupons” to expatriate Haitians.
Approximately 2 million Haitians live and work abroad.
The program would target at least 1 million of them
for one visit per year to Haiti. Haitians abroad would
be encouraged to buy at least one “Development Coupon”
each year to use during their visit to the motherland.
The coupon would give them access to an array of
transportation and other courtesy services from the
time they land at the airport to the time they leave.
A private firm would be contracted by the state to
manage this program.

In concluding, it is essential to reiterate that the
success of all the ideas proposed in this paper
requires the existence in Haiti of the rule of law,
equal justice and security for all, efficient
management, fight against all forms of corruption,
dynamic public/private sector partnership, and good
governance under the leadership of a team of civil
servants whose integrity, experience, and competence
are well-established. What Haiti needs today from the
international community is not only humanitarian or
financial assistance, but a real commitment as in 1994
to help us put an end to an unacceptable situation,
which is rejected by all the vital sectors of the
country.

Leaders of the democratic opposition demand a change,
the civil society demands a change, religious
organizations demand a change, women groups demand a
change, the workers unions demand a change, students
organizations demand a change, the peasants
organizations demand a change, the Human Rights
organizations demand a change, and the Haitian public
at large is waiting for a change. Nevertheless, I must
also clarify that those who are asking for change are
divided into two groups; the more radical ones wish
the immediate departure of the president while the
other group would like a change in the governance of
the country, a change that will bring security,
justice, and development as long as we have a
government led by an independent Prime Minister
willing to assume the responsibilities given to him by
the constitution.

It is important to remember that according to the 1987
constitution, the head of the government is not the
president, but the Prime Minister. It is my opinion
that the view expressed by those in the second group
might open a window for a possible solution to the
crisis. The imposable scenario I talked about earlier
could come in the form of the view expressed by the
second group. The entire country is open to those who
want and can help us organize credible, free and fair
elections, institute the rule of law, equal justice
and security for all, and realize the disarmament of
the gangs. Let us all hope that something positive
along this line can be done soon before our beloved
Haiti slides into situations comparable to what
happened in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Kossovo, or
Liberia.

*This paper centers on the main points of the
conference’s agenda and it presents only an outline
(in some cases a brief overview) of subjects that are
developed more fully in a proposal on Haiti.

__________________________________
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