May 2011 - On the eve of the publication of Haiti's amended constitution it was discovered,by Senator Benoit, that the constitution that was going to be sent for publication in the Monitor contained errors.
Publication was halted.
There was a lot of fingerpointing as to who would want to sabotage the process that would allow the people of Haiti to have an instrument aimed at enforcing democracy.
Martelly announced that the matter would be studied and officially declared that haiti is operating under the old constitution of 1987.
After a few months, when no new information being reported on steps being taken to make necessary corrections.....Martelly was reported to have said that he was elected to make changes in education not constitution.
After much pressure from Haiti's human rights organizations, Parliament.....and the international prestigious Madrid Club......Martelly finally held a joint press conference on 12/22/11 with some members of the club to announce that he had decided it would be in the best interest of political stability of the country for the new constitution to go into effect.
Haiti: President Martelly Makes Four Promises towards Political Stability
Thursday, 22 December 2011 09:56
by Samuel Maxime
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) – The President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, made four groundbreaking concessions on Wednesday aimed at stabilizing the political structure of Haiti. The promises were made during a meeting which convened members of all three branches of government and a visiting delegation from the Club of Madrid.
Even Thierry Mayard-Paul, arguably the president's most right wing cabinet member, announced that by the end of the year the new constitution would be published.
From the time the president announced his intention to allow the publication.......in addition to Members of Parliament and Human Rights groups applauding the decision, there were, new threatening reports from the most hard core of society against the publication. They came mostly from staunch Duvalierists and pro coup d'etat supporters who view the new document as castration of their monopoly of power.
The new constitution contains many changes from the previous, including dual citizenship of Haitians who live abroad and application of policy that would give women 1/3 of seats in Parliament.
But the controversial change is the one that would give the masses a voice on who would represent them with the creation of a Permanent Electoral Council. Currently, political candidates are approved/disqualified by a provisional electoral council whose members are named by the Executive.
Presently, people vote only for the candidates that the power structure deemed acceptable to their interest, the ones who would not cause trouble.
The new constitution mandates a Permanent Electoral Council - 9 members : 3 members would be chosen from the Legislature, 3 from the Executive and 3 from the Judiciary.
Provisional Electoral Councils have in the past approved people like Guy Phillippe to run for the presidency, even though he had trained armed militia from the Dominican Republic and had invaded the country during military excursions from the DR with attacks against police precincts resulting in the deaths of many aimed at overthrowing a democratically elected president in 2004. Provisional councils have also banned the Lavalas political party even though they represent vast majority of the electorate.
On 12/30/11, the president reversed himself and announced that he will Not publish the new constitution.....and that he planned to establish yet another commission to "review the matter"
He dissolved the current council and announced he will name a new Provisional electoral country to look into possibility of elections in
in May........elections that will in fact be 7 months late.......if they happen.
a president must always be careful when it comes to the publication of a constitution, cuz you can not go back in time to change an error easily after all
The constitution is already approved by 2 consecutive parliaments.......it's not his constitution to stop ....his signature is a mere formality...unfortunately one that's required.
The constitution is already approved by 2 consecutive parliaments.......it's not his constitution to stop ....his signature is a mere formality...unfortunately one that's required.
you get it wrong
it is his constitution to make sure that everything is well draft and legally right before publishing it
beside do you really trust this Parliament to make things right ?
Capitaine, should every president be allowed to take as long as ever to sign a constitution? Should a constitution be allowed to be revised to suit the whims of every administration?
Capitaine, should every president be allowed to take as long as ever to sign a constitution? Should a constitution be allowed to be revised to suit the whims of every administration?
first of all
amended a constitution it's not something that you have to do every year or even during each presidency
the constitution is the most important book in a country therefore any responsible president would always be careful to revised any single pages of it to make sure that everything is legally right no matter how long it takes
that is what make a difference between a real democratic country and a banana republic
just a misinterpreting sentence in a constitution can cause a political crisis, hence there is no need to rush the process,
Legal experts decide what is legally right......not Martelly.
So on December 22, 2011.....when he held a press conference with the Madrid Club members to announce that he has decided for the best of the country the amended constitution should be published.......you mean to say he hadn't read it.....he hadn't been advised it was legally sound......
Legal experts decide what is legally right......not Martelly.
So on December 22, 2011.....when he held a press conference with the Madrid Club members to announce that he has decided for the best of the country the amended constitution should be published.......you mean to say he hadn't read it.....he hadn't been advised it was legally sound......
who are these legal expert, and who pay them to do that?
beside
you think that Martely should just do whatever he ask to do despite the importance of his decision?
