Foreign minister for the Republic of Haiti Herard Abraham informed BYU students of the upcoming free election and other current issues facing poverty-stricken Haiti in the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies Area Focus Lecture Tuesday.

Haiti has had nearly 200 years of political unrest with multiple presidents’ unsuccessful attempts to establish a structured government.

An election will be this October to establish the dual process of democracy. In the past there have been presidents, but not a structure of democracy that was able to keep the structure of democracy going, Abraham said.

“When they originally tried to colonize Haiti, no government structure was ever put into place,” he said.

With 91 parties running in October, it is still uncertain whether or not this small country will establish a stable, enduring government structure.

Serving as mediators, the United Nations and Haitian officials will certainly ensure both a peaceful and fraud-free election, he said.

An interim government has been filling in while preparations have been made for the institution of the new organization. In the mean time, this interim government has prioritized Haiti’s most dire needs, creating long-term goals that focus on political and economic stability.

“The illiteracy rate is 58.4 percent and about 34 percent of school-aged children do not go to school because there are not enough schools to educate all the kids that are school aged,” Abraham said. “ They have 12 teachers for every 1,000 students. It startles you, but it is the reality in Haiti.”

The temporary government in Haiti has identified a need of at least $1 billion for essential projects, but the money will have to be generated from loans or donations that the international community can give to Haiti.

Abraham is the only military leader to have voluntarily relinquished power after what many claim to be the cleanest of several elections in 1990. After the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Abraham held the title of president for 72 hours. He peacefully returned the power to Aristide when the United States suddenly brought Aristide back to Haiti.

“When the U.S. brought [Aristide] back perhaps they did more wrong than good,” said Chantal Thompson, a BYU French professor who translated for Abraham during his lecture in the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.

After regaining power, Aristide’ reign again held political instability in Haiti with a civil war prompting his second exile to South Africa in 2004.

“Haiti is so poor because there has never been a government structure to keep Haiti on the right path since 1804,” Abraham said.

BYU student Steve Krause, from Victoria, Canada a return missionary to Haiti, said he thinks BYU can sympathize with Haiti because students are internationally minded because they have been around the world and on missions.

Abraham said if he could leave a message with BYU students it would be to join an organization to teach or do research in Haiti.

His daughter, Nathalie Abraham said, “We want people to partner up with other cities and have an exchange to help people in Haiti. We need all of the help we can get.”