(Working Translation)

People of Haiti,

The country has endured an eighteen month crisis. It began with an electoral crisis, it worsened with a governmental crisis, and now we have a parliamentary crisis. I will give you my position on each of these crises, on each of these problems. I have already spoken many times of the electoral crisis; I will once again. I have also spoken of the governmental crisis; I will once again. Today, I wish to emphasize the parliamentary crisis.

We know the last elections took place late. For that reason, even though the Constitution says that the legislature - the 46th legislature like all the other legislatures - begins in January, the members of Parliament took their oath of office late. However, in order to make the electoral cycle correspond with the constitutional cycle, which is to say so that a four year legislature would end, and when finished, would allow the 47th would begin on the second Monday in January, the electoral law fixed the term of the Deputies and the second group of Senators as the second Monday in January 1999. That date is written in black and white in the Electoral Law. And, the electoral law does not differ from the Constitution because it tries to recover [the spirit of] the Constitution with regard to the tardiness of elections and of the swearing-in of the members of Parliament. The legislature sits for four years. However, if a Deputy enters late, even if his mandate is for four years, he is elected only for the rest of the time of that legislature.

Thus, it is clear that the electoral law is not unconstitutional. To the contrary, it tries to restore agreement with the Constitution. It is clear that everyone agreed with that provision. As proof, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies produced a book entitled "The 46th Legislature", which was a directory containing a photograph of each Senator, of each Deputy, their names, their professions, the date their term began and when their term would end. That book, with forewords by the President of the Senate and the President of the Chamber, says that their terms would end on the second Monday in January 1999. Thus, it was something everybody accepted. Today, what's the problem? The problem is that because of the electoral crisis, there are no new Deputies and Senators, which would permit us to open the 47th legislature. It is a serious problem. It is a serious problem for a President to govern without a counterbalancing power. We are prepared to analyze that problem. But we are not prepared to violate the Constitution, which says that one cannot dissolve, adjourn, or prolong the term of a member of Parliament. During the crisis, occasionally people asked, "Why don't you dissolve Parliament?'' We said, "Because the Constitution does not permit us to do that.'' Today, we say again, the Constitution doesn't permit us to prolong the mandate of the Parliamentarians.

There is a logic that people must support. After producing a book that says your term ends on the second Monday of January 1999, after participating in elections based on a law that says that, and after having a resolution in the Senate affirming so, now, on what legal basis can you claim something to the contrary? There has to be logic.

We repeat that we cannot extend the mandate of members of Parliament, because their terms have ended. We repeat also that we are prepared -- myself the President, and the Prime Minister -- so that we won't govern the country without any balancing power. And for that reason, we will invite different sectors to reflect with us on how we can correct this problem without violating the Constitution of the country. When you're building a democracy, the most important thing is that you respect the rules created for everyone. And, the rule created for everyone is the Constitution, the law of the land. If a problem arises, we must sit down together to discuss the problem, without violating the Constitution. We are ready to sit down to find an entity to control the executive branch. But, we are not ready to prolong unconstitutionally the mandates of the Deputies and Senators. The problem is clear. It is our position, and it is the position of the Constitution.

The second problem that led to the parliamentary crisis was the electoral crisis. If we had already held elections, we would not be facing this problem; everyone would say that their terms expired, as they had said already. Since we have already started to do so, we must continue to discuss with interested sectors -- political sectors, civil society, and sectors related to decentralization – so that we can find a formula to put a Provisional Electoral Council in place and quickly have elections.

The third problem is the question of government. Since 1990, the Constitution has been applied incorrectly : A Prime Minister is named officially by decree after he presents his policy platform. That is not what the Constitution says. The Constitution says : the President chooses a Prime Minister; the Parliament ratifies the President's choice; the Prime Minister chooses the members of his Cabinet. If the Prime Minister chooses his ministers, he must [also] be a minister. There is an executive order naming Jacques Edouard Alexis as Prime Minister. Now Jacques Edouard Alexis will choose the ministers. We see that this takes time, because we are negotiating with many groups and many people to find competent individuals capable of doing the job. And then, once Jacques Edouard Alexis presents his Cabinet to me, and if I am in agreement, we will issue an executive order naming the ministers. At that time, we will have a Government. The Government will present its policy platform to the Parliament. We must solve the problem so that we can determine when Jacques Edouard Alexis will be able to present his policy platform. That cannot be done by prolonging the mandates of members of Parliament. It's unconstitutional.

People of Haiti,

We are trying to build something called democracy. Democracy, above all, is the respect for the rules of the game contained in the Constitution. Every time a problem arises we cannot try to change the rules of the game in order to solve the problem. I am prepared to continue discussions with everyone in order to find the solution. For seven months, during my negotiations with different political partners, I stressed that on the second Monday of January there would be a problem. They agreed that there would be a problem and that we should see how we could prevent this institutional void. Five months ago, I proposed Jacques Edouard Alexis, after having proposed other Prime Ministers many months earlier. The governmental crisis never gave us time to resolve the electoral crisis. It never gave us time to look seriously into the parliamentary crisis, the question of the second Monday of January. Now that day has arrived and everyone is surprised, despite the fact that seven months ago I stressed what would happen, and that seven months ago I asked these people to come together to try to resolve it. I will not violate the Constitution because we have an institutional void. There is an institutional void, let us sit down to find a constitutional solution to the problem.

Stand firm, don't give up. I ask every person to express their opinion, calmly. I ask every person worried about this institutional void to keep a cool head, to talk rather than resort to force.

The parliamentary crisis is not the only crisis. We must also confront the issue of the territorial collectivities whose terms ended also. We don't need demonstrations. We will work together to see how we can fill these voids. We cannot leave the country without representatives at the levels of sections, cities, and departments. Closing the doors of city halls and throwing rocks is not going to solve these problems. My position is clear : their mandates have ended. I do not have the authority to prolong the terms of the Deputies and Senators, just as I do not have the authority to dissolve them. However, I do have the authority to dissolve a town council that is functioning badly. And, that has always been so; when a town council is working poorly, it is dissolved and a commission is named. Thus, we will examine each town council, each CASEC which has to be renewed, so that bit by bit, we can analyze the situation and reconstitute them.

Please, remain calm. That is what is good for democracy because there are many people who like to create confusion when the law is not on their side. They cannot force our hand. They will not violate the law. They will not violate the Constitution. The law is on our side, we who say that the mandates have expired. The law is on our side, those who say that as the Executive, we do not want to govern alone. The law is on our side, those of us who say that we cannot leave an institutional void in the collectivities. Give me time to work with those who oppose the parliamentary institutional void to find a balancing power' to the Executive. Give me the time to see how we will resolve the problem of the territorial collectivities.

I thank you. Keep the peace so that democracy will not be overturned. Thank you again.

(Source : Bureau de Presse de la Présidence)

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