26571: Blanchet: SIMEUS DEMANDS ACTION AGAINST CEP LAST MINUTE ATTEMPT TO SILENCE PRO-DEMOCRACY CRUSADE (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


SIMEUS DEMANDS ACTION AGAINST CEP LAST MINUTE ATTEMPT TO SILENCE PRO-
DEMOCRACY CRUSADE


CEP ignores Supreme Court Ruling and Issues a New `Official
Presidential Ballot' Without Siméus Candidacy



Pro-Democracy Reformer Decries Action as "Witch Hunt Against
Democracy"



November 12, 2005 (Port-au-Prince) - Dumarsais Siméus, the Haitian-
born businessman who has been nominated by a broad-based reform
coalition of two Haitian opposition parties, hailed the nomination of
new U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Janet A. Sanderson, and called on her
to stop the latest attempt to silence the pro-democracy movement by
the Tet Ansanm candidate.



Yesterday afternoon, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)
ignored the unanimous Supreme Court decision confirming Dumarsais
Siméus as a Haitian citizen and rightful presidential candidate, and
issued a new Presidential ballot, leaving off the Siméus candidacy
and one other.  "It is a last-minute attempt to silence our pro-
democracy crusade, the voice of eight million Haitians aching for
free elections and ready for a new system of fair government," said
Siméus, who called the move, "A witch hunt against democracy"
and "another shameful attempt by this same small clique of power
hungry anti-democracy forces attempting to mastermind the outcome of
Haiti's Presidential election."



"The Supreme Court has unanimously spoken.  I am Haitian.  We have
every right to run in these elections and all Haitians have the right
to freely choose their representative," said the Artibonite-born
unifier nominated by Tet Ansanm "All Together" party.



"I urge the CEP to comply with the Supreme Court order, and respect
the rights of the Haitian people to freely choose their next leader.
This attempt to supercede the legitimacy and authority of our
nation's highest legal body and ultimate election authority
undermines the fairness and transparency of this fragile election
process and the future for eight million Haitians who suffer daily
from poverty, violence and corruption," said Siméus, the son of
illiterate peasants in the rural village of Pont-Sondé who worked his
way up from the rice paddies to found one of the world's largest
black-owned businesses and The Siméus Foundation to bring clean water
and health care to his birthplace in the Artibonite Valley.



·        October 11, 2005, Haitian Supreme Court unanimously ordered
that the CEP include Dumrsais Siméus campaign on the ballot

·        Mid October 2005, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue interceded
and created the Commission on Nationality (Comision d'Etat), an
unconstitutional panel offered powers above the Supreme Court. With
1,000 parliamentary candidates and 38 presidential candidates,
their "investigation" has focused primarily on Dumarsais Siméus while
convicted criminals remain on the ballot.

·        October 18, 2005, CEP member Patrick Fequiere, in a letter
to fellow CEP members raised alarm about Prime Minister Latortue's
actions to unilaterally change electoral law by removing the Supreme
Court as the final authority through the creation of the Commission
on Nationality

·        November 4, 2005, CEP issued the final list of presidential
candidates, including Dumarsais Siméus, in compliance with the
Supreme Court ruling

·        November 8, 2005 The Commission on Nationality confirms
Siméus candidacy and requests new documentation not required by the
CEP, electoral law or the Supreme Court

·        November 8, 2005 The members of a high-level committee
created to improve the organizations of the elections and help the
CEP resigned, citing lack of support from the government

·        November 11, 2005 The CEP issued a new Presidential ballot,
leaving off  Siméus and one other candidate



This challenge follows a series of election abuses by government
insiders who employed a string of back-door tricks in the ill-fated
attempts to exclude the formidable reformer from the ballot,
including actions by government and the electoral council to:



Attempt to deny the Haitian nationality that belongs to Siméus by
birth;
Ignore electoral laws requiring the CEP to file objections within 72
hours;
Falsify and forge documents which are clearly not in his handwriting;
Use police powers of the state to "find" immigration cards;
Intervene outside the Prime Minister's constitutional authority to
block Siméus;
Register criminals and other candidates holding French and U.S.
passports while blocking Siméus;
Even "losing" and then "finding" the candidate's CEP registration
files.


"Haiti is on the brink of a tailspin.  Only direct intervention by
the international community will sway the interim government to act
according to the mandate they have been assigned and immediately
cease their illegal maneuvers and actions.



"We call on new U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Janet A. Sanderson to step
in, to demand free and fair elections as called for by U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  We
are the voice, the hope and the future for millions of Haitian men,
women and children who are dying from disease, violence and
corruption.  It is not me the CEP will silence with this move, it is
the cries of the malnourished, impoverished, the scared and the ill .
the anguished cries of all Haitians whose hope for a better future
lies in our democracy crusade."



"We have a chance right now to bring the light of democracy,
transparency and freedom, to lift Haiti from the crushing weight of
despair, and it is slipping away by the second," continued Siméus.

"We will bring real business-know how from the outside world here to
Haiti.  And we will stand tall for all that is fair and good and
truth so that that every child can grow up to achieve the Haitian
dream," continued Siméus.



"The choice is clear and it is in all of our hands.  Do we continue
the same old failed politics that has beggared our beloved country
continue to or do we bring real change to our nation, with strong new
leadership that has actually created real jobs, built businesses in
the real world, brought health care and clean water to the people of
Haiti, and put food on the table for thousands of people around the
planet?" asked the global businessman, owner of one of the world's
largest black-owned companies.



"This is our chance to sweep away the failed, corrupt politics of the
past and join hands to build a bold new vision of unity, prosperity
and success," continued Siméus.



About Dumarsais Siméus
The presidential campaign of Dumarsais Siméus is the result of a
draft movement which began last spring, as delegations of key Haitian
business, civic and charitable leaders called on the global
businessman, asking him to consider running for President and leading
the land of his birth in a bold new direction.



A native son of the Haitian soil, Siméus grew up on a farm in Pont-
Sondé, Haiti.  Siméus earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from
Howard University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate
School of Business.  He has since become a global business success
story with expertise in management and corporate finance, holding
international leadership positions at a variety of companies
including PromoCapital, the first investment banking firm in Haiti,
Atari, Inc., KB Homes, and as President of TLC Beatrice Foods, a $2
billion multinational corporation with operations in over 25
countries - a budget larger than the total revenues of the Republic
of Haiti.



During his campaign he accepted the nomination of Tet Ansanm "All
Together" party, a broad based pro-democracy reform coalition with 30
Senatorial candidates and 99 candidates for Deputy in the Haitian
Congress.  Fully 100% of local cartel elections (similar to City
Councils in the United States) include candidates nominated by Tet
Ansanm alliance.  With the momentum of today's Supreme Court victory,
Dumarsais Siméus and the Tet Ansanm coalition will continue to reach
out to more political parties, political leaders and others in the
coming weeks.



In 1999 he founded The Siméus Foundation, a non-profit charitable
organization, to carry out his mission of bringing far-reaching
assistance to Haitians. The Foundation's health clinic in Artibonite
offers low-cost, reliable health care to 400 patients a month, and
its water project has brought clean, safe water to thousands of
Haitians - decreasing the risk of disease and instilling new hope in
the people of the Republic. Today, Dumarsais Siméus is Founder and
Chairman of Siméus Foods International, Inc., one of the largest
Haitian-owned and black-owned businesses in the world.





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