On June 14, the 120-day term of Haiti’s Provisional
President Jocelerme Privert officially ended. Haiti’s constitution explicitly prohibits
an extension or a new mandate (Articles 98.3 and 134.3). Both the Legislative
and the Judicial
Branch have acknowledged the Presidential vacancy. The Interamerican Human
Rights Commission has done
the same. Yet Privert illegally hangs on to the Presidency.
Since June 15, like Alberto Fujimori in Peru, Privert is attempting
a coup
(autogolpe). He is using state institutions, violence, threats, intimidation, and
corruption against the Legislative and Judicial Branches of Government as well
against his political opponents to desperately cling to power. On June 21, the
National Assembly was attacked Privert chimere’s who threw rocks and fired guns
at the building and exiting representatives to thwart their attempts to set
forth a process to fill the Presidency. Senator Jean Renel Senatus and Deputies
Romel Bauge and Rony Celestin – all leading efforts to unseat the illegal
President -- escaped assassination attempts. Celestin is the majority leader of
the Chamber of Deputies. Eleven political opponents have been killed and 15 had
their houses and/or businesses burned to the ground, including the business of
Anne Valerie Timothee the President of opposition PHTK party, former President
Martelly’s political party.
These tactics are consistent with Privert’s violent record which
includes masterminding the massacres in Raboteau and La Scierie
when he was Minister of the Interior from 2002 -04, according to human rights
reports and the Haitian judicial system. His 120-day track record as Provisional
President was a complete failure. His one task was to organize free and fair
elections, which are nowhere on the horizon.
Parliament through a National Assembly should replace
Privert to facilitate the finalization of the 2015 elections. But, first
Privert needs to give back the Presidential sash and vacate the National
Palace. Without that, the country is heading to more conflict and instability
This is the context in which OAS Secretary General Luis
Almagro -- influenced by Privert’s special envoy and behind the scene by Sandra
Honore, head of MINUSTAH and former Chief of Staff of OAS Assistant Secretary
General -- issued a communique on July 15 putting pressure on the Haitian
parliament instead of delegitimizing Privert’s coup. How can the OAS support an
illegitimate provisional President organizing a coup in Haiti in violation of
the Democratic Charter and Haiti’s constitution while undermining parliament? How
can the Interamerican Human Rights Commission understand that Privert’s term
ended leaving a Presidential vacuum and not the Secretary General? If the OAS is a champion of democracy
and cares about Haiti’s political stability, they will condemn Privert’s coup
and encourage elections.