Haiti President Michel Martelly is seeking his fourth prime minister since taking office in 2011 after Laurent Lamothe quit to diffuse growing protests over a delayed electoral law that could lead to parliament’s dissolution.
Lamothe, who took office in 2012, stepped down Dec. 14 after a tumultuous week in the Caribbean nation that saw a presidential commission call for his resignation, United Nations troops confronting protesters and a high-level diplomatic effort by the U.S. In a 2 a.m. address to the nation, he said he was leaving with a sense of “duty accomplished.”
The 42-year-old Lamothe had won praise from leaders including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and telecommunications billionaire Denis O’Brien for his efforts to lure investment and rebuild Haiti after a 2010 earthquake killed more than 200,000 people. His resignation may not win over an opposition angered by allegations of government corruption, U.S. involvement in the crisis and the contention that Martelly’s election law proposal was unconstitutional.
“To negotiate with Martelly is useless,” said Senator Westner Polycarpe, one of six lawmakers opposing the law, via e-mail. Polycarpe called for the resignation of some members of the Supreme Court and electoral council. “The formation of a provisional government could pacify the country and help realize credible elections,” he said.
No Quorum
With only 20 of the senate’s 30 seats currently filled because elections haven’t been held, the bloc of six senators can prevent a quorum needed to approve or reject legislation.
“The next few days will be very critical,” said Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born professor of politics at the University of Virginia. “Martelly is now very weakened and there’s a segment of the opposition that will continue to protest and continue to call for his resignation.”
In a nationally-televised address before Lamothe stepped down, Martelly praised him for his “courage and determination to help Haiti.”
“I recognize he is taking this decision to help unblock the political situation,” Martelly said.
Rule by Decree
The resignation doesn’t end the dispute over the electoral law. Local elections that had last been scheduled for October still haven’t taken place. Without a breakthrough, parliament will be dissolved next month and Martelly could rule by decree until elections take place.
“Michel Martelly needs to find a solution to stop the protests in the street by choosing a prime minister from a consensual platform,” said Jean-Junior Joseph, a Haitian political commentator who blogs at the touthaiti.com website, in an e-mailed response to questions.
Martelly said negotiations would begin Monday, but he did not lay out a timetable of when an interim prime minister would be selected or say with whom he would be negotiating.
Lamothe and Martelly have courted investors in their bid to boost growth in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, ranked near the bottom of the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” reports. The nation of 10 million people was rated 163rd out of 175 nations in Transparency International’s 2013 corruption index, behind Venezuela and Zimbabwe. The government still depends on non-profits and foreign aid to provide many basic services.
Cruise Company
Economic growth in Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, isforecast to moderate to 3.7 percent next year from 3.8 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. That compares to 4.2 percent next year for the Dominican Republic and 1.8 percent for Jamaica.
Cruise-ship company Carnival Corp. (CCL) in July announced a $70 million cruise port project on Haiti’s northern Turtle Island, while the government is working with Bermuda-based Lazard Ltd. to raise an investment fund it says can aid the domestic economy.
In a Dec. 11 interview with the Miami Herald, former President Clinton said Lamothe had done a “really good job” and that the country was putting at risk four years of progress since the earthquake.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets in recent weeks to demand that both Martelly and Lamothe step down. On Dec. 12, United Nations peace keepers and Haitian police fired tear gas at protesters as they tried to march on the presidential palace.
U.S. Trip
A committee appointed by Martelly to address the crisis last week recommended that Lamothe, members of his government, the head of the Supreme Court and electoral council members resign to help defuse the crisis.
Following a quick trip to the country by State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon, spokeswomanJen Psaki said the U.S. supported the committee’s work, without specifically endorsing its recommendations.
As he begins negotiating with lawmakers, Martelly will have to appoint an interim prime minister who can work with a deeply polarized opposition, Fatton said. In the meantime, the government will struggle to pass any policy measures.
“We’re in a state of paralysis until there is a resolution and the likeliness of that happening is very full of uncertainty,” he said.
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