Wyclef Jean running for President in Haiti ?

[pedrochemical]

2 of the CEP were absent and 1 resigned.
So we have 6 of these people who are making the decisions.

The 1 resignation came after he got busted for corruption.

That is the beauty of Haitian politics to this point - everybody is in it up to there necks so as soon as they contradict the zeitgeist the corruption conveniently comes to light and they are gone - especially these days when corruption has officially been designated as a bad thing - a bold and radical departure from the norm of Haitian politics.

To be honest - if they followed the rules then Clef was not going to be able to stand.
I have never seen the written argument that his diplo=passport/ambassador thingy somehow exempts him from the five year residency rule. That explanation is strangely missing from the literature. Exactly what is his arguement? That he is exempt from the rules as written because he is erm, what exactly?

Can someone supply a link to where this argument is explained??

In this regard AC was correct.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
A damned shame but true.
Almost an inconvenient truth.

What really chaps my little scared whitey Yorkshire knackers is that the guys allowed to stand could easily be barred for equally obvious contraventions - mainly to do with handling public funds and previously and currently being ministers without the proper sign off documents.


The saddest thing of all has been missed.
That the CEP effectively decides who is going to be president.
And the UN support this. The international community headed by Clinton support this. And for convenience's sake nobody actually worth a damn does not support this - just a bunch of people with drums, trumpets and tree branches doing a Rara down the street.

The opportunity is lost and nothing changes.

But Clef calling for people to stand up to this communist era style closed "democratic" election - is that helpful??

I know that you cannot male an omelet without breaking eggs but to fix this bullsh!t you would have to go up against the UN, the International Community, the HIRC, National Police and every other vested interest. Bt the eggs that will be broken are people. People in my book are sacrosanct. 1 is too many to lose.

The opportunity has been lost to do this peacefully.
And the alternative process seems worse than the most positive outcome available.

For me - this one got away.

It sucks - but "they" win again.

Admittedly I do have a dog in this fight which colours my judgment - but I would happily walk away if I thought there was even a slim chance of things working out better for the Haitians I know.

Alas no.

 

[Mariot]

2 of the CEP were absent and 1 resigned.
So we have 6 of these people who are making the decisions.

The 1 resignation came after he got busted for corruption.

That is the beauty of Haitian politics to this point - everybody is in it up to there necks so as soon as they contradict the zeitgeist the corruption conveniently comes to light and they are gone - especially these days when corruption has officially been designated as a bad thing - a bold and radical departure from the norm of Haitian politics.

To be honest - if they followed the rules then Clef was not going to be able to stand.
I have never seen the written argument that his diplo=passport/ambassador thingy somehow exempts him from the five year residency rule. That explanation is strangely missing from the literature. Exactly what is his arguement? That he is exempt from the rules as written because he is erm, what exactly?

Can someone supply a link to where this argument is explained??

In this regard AC was correct.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
A damned shame but true.
Almost an inconvenient truth.

What really chaps my little scared whitey Yorkshire knackers is that the guys allowed to stand could easily be barred for equally obvious contraventions - mainly to do with handling public funds and previously and currently being ministers without the proper sign off documents.


The saddest thing of all has been missed.
That the CEP effectively decides who is going to be president.
And the UN support this. The international community headed by Clinton support this. And for convenience's sake nobody actually worth a damn does not support this - just a bunch of people with drums, trumpets and tree branches doing a Rara down the street.

The opportunity is lost and nothing changes.

But Clef calling for people to stand up to this communist era style closed "democratic" election - is that helpful??

I know that you cannot male an omelet without breaking eggs but to fix this bullsh!t you would have to go up against the UN, the International Community, the HIRC, National Police and every other vested interest. Bt the eggs that will be broken are people. People in my book are sacrosanct. 1 is too many to lose.

The opportunity has been lost to do this peacefully.
And the alternative process seems worse than the most positive outcome available.

For me - this one got away.

It sucks - but "they" win again.

Admittedly I do have a dog in this fight which colours my judgment - but I would happily walk away if I thought there was even a slim chance of things working out better for the Haitians I know.

Alas no.

the passport argument was that as an ambassador, he is supposed to travel and work in other countries for the benefit of haiti. the extensive traveling etc. make it difficult to fullfill the five year residency requirement, and therefore he should be exempt. i read it somewhere, but don't remember where.
but as i see it, this argument was ridiculous from the beginning.
he is a goodwill ambassador, it is not his main job, and he resides outside haiti for other reasons than his work as goodwill ambassador. furthermore, a rule is a rule, and requirements need to be fulfilled if you want to qualify for the job. presidencies all over the world have certain requirements, and not all of them make sense. if the rules require you to be forty, you can't argue that you're thirty nine and a half. you do not qualify, period. so even if you are a real ambassador, if you want to stand for elections, you better get your ass back to haiti in time.

i also don't know in how far it is helpful that wyclef is now calling people to stand up against this. haitian politics always involved violence, and political leaders, among other things, rely on gangs of violent supporters. so even if he would not intend for this to result in bloodshed, it certainly can. i also think that his opponents know this, and they also know that wyclef is in a very weak position. he resides outside haiti in the united states, he is a celebrity, and he lacks the political connections they have. so if things turn violent, wyclef would be in the public eye and he would have nobody that could protect him from international or us persecution. so his opponents can do both, incite wyclef supporters to turn to violence, and counter pro wyclef protests with violence. all in all, not a good look. neither for the people, nor for haitis future or wyclefs presidency ambitions.

 

[pedrochemical]

This is a bit of a long article but it says what is becoming obvious - that the CEP pick and choose candidates not according to the rules but according to the political motives of the people they represent.
Are international organisations going to do anything about this? Hell no!
Why? Well it seems they share the same political imperatives as the baastards who have perpetrated this fraud.

<o></o>

<o></o>
Wyclef Jean's disqualification signals Haiti diaspora not welcome in politics The Christian Science Monitor, By Alice Speri, posted August 25, 2010
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Port-au-Prince, Haiti ? The disqualification of Wyclef Jean and all the other candidates from the Haitian diaspora who sought to run in the country's presidential election has led to allegations that the domestic political elite is manipulating the country's election commission to freeze out strong challengers.
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In all, 15 presidential hopefuls were disqualified by Haiti's election commission (CEP), which has not explained the reasons for any of the dismissals.
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?It?s clear something wrong happened with the diaspora candidates," says Jean-Junior Joseph, a Hatian political blogger. He says that many of the 19 approved presidential candidates had similar problems with their applications as those identified in the case of diaspora candidates.
<o></o>
The allegation of favoritism has implications beyond the diaspora. The upcoming elections are expected to cost some $29 million, with most of that to be paid by the United States and other donors, leaving foreign governments holding the bag for what critics say could be an unfair poll.
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While allegations that the election commission may be politically biased are not unique to the current election cycle, there are hopes that the star power of Mr. Jean can bring attention to the issue and push the international community to demand change.
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The Commission of Electoral Observation, a body of foreign observers from the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community appointed to monitor the Haitian electoral process, has already met with Minister of Haitians Living Abroad Edwin Paraison. ?It?s the first time that international observers have expressed favor towards the participation of the diaspora in an electoral process,? he says.
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Among the 19 approved candidates, the front runners are seen as former prime minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, former government construction agency director general Jude Celestin (endorsed by current President Ren? Pr?val), former UN envoy Leslie Voltaire, former Delmas mayor Wilson Jeudy, and former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune. No polling has yet been done.
<o></o>
Each of them is considered part of the political establishment. A recent editorial in Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's main newspaper, referred to the approved candidates as "the status-quo."
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No reason for Wyclef Jean's disqualification The CEP released a document evaluating each candidate on 17 requirements set by electoral law, but in many cases that didn't explain their decision. For instance, Jean appears to have met all 17 requirements.
<o></o>
The CEP declined to identify the motivations behind its exclusion of Jean, former ambassador Raymond Joseph, New York medical doctor Kesler Dalmacy, and Miami activist Lavarice Gaudin, among others. Lawyers for Jean and Joseph announced Tuesday they will appeal the decision
<o></o>
Most of them were likely rejected on residency grounds, as the Constitution requires all presidential candidates to have lived in Haiti for the five years leading up to an election. Grammy-winning hip-hop musician Jean has lived in the United States since age nine. His lawyers have argued that since Jean owns a home and business interests in Haiti, and in 2007 was appointed the country's roving ambassador-at-large, he should qualify.
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The Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad, in a statement Monday, argued that the electoral law fails to indicate the minimum number of days a candidate is required to remain in the country each year to meet the 5-year residency requirement. ?There is a certain fluidity around the question of residency, which leads to different interpretations, often negative for the aspirations of diaspora candidates,? Minister Paraison said. ?This is a situation that must be clarified through constitutional reform.?
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The ministry called on the CEP to operate with more transparency and explain its reasoning for excluding candidates.
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'Our voices will be heard'
Jean's uncle, Mr. Joseph * who first announced his candidacy to the Monitor * was exempt from the residency requirement because he was appointed ambassador to the United States in 2005. But according to the CEP he failed to meet the requirement for a "decharge" (discharge), which is a clearance procedure whereby the Superior Court of Accounts says the candidate has properly managed public funds while on his previous post.
<o></o>
Joseph argued that, as an ambassador, he was not in charge of public funds as local office holders might have been, and therefore he says the requirement shouldn't apply to him.
<o></o>
The blogger Jean-Junior Joseph, who is not related to the former ambassador, says that nine Haiti residents also failed to meet that requirement but were approved nonetheless. ?Our voices will be heard," he says. "We will build up a vast campaign against those accepted candidates.?
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Money welcome back. Politicians not.
The diaspora has long retained strong economic ties to their homeland.
Before the Jan. 12 earthquake, Haiti?s diaspora contributed some $2 billion in yearly remittances, making up almost 25 percent of the country?s GDP, according to Paraison, the government minister. He adds that the diaspora was first in mobilizing funds after the earthquake and has been actively involved in reconstruction efforts.
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Yet the diaspora?s political participation has long been less welcome than its economic assistance. The 1987 Constitution prevents Haitians from holding multiple passports, which prevents many expatriates from voting or seeking office.
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There are about 1 million voting age members of the diaspora, though it's not clear how many are eligible to vote. About 4.5 million Haitians inside the country are eligible to vote. One diaspora representative sits on the country?s Interim Reconstruction Commission, but as a non-voting member.
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?It?s time that our diaspora is no longer only a cash cow, but that the Haitian state allows it to enjoy its rights,? Paraison said in a statement Monday.
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Reversing the law to allow dual citizenship and granting Haitians abroad the right to vote was one of the few actual proposals that Wyclef Jean put forward before his campaign was cut short by the CEP?s ruling. Others, including his uncle Raymond Joseph, were also calling for greater diaspora participation, and that appeals both to Haitians living abroad and those who have returned home to find that they lack the same rights as their countrymen.
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?Sometimes people here feel like we are aliens in their territory, but we are the ones with the money and the education,? says Bryenne Jonassaint, a diaspora member who recently visited Port-au-Prince. She was born in Haiti, raised in New York, and now lives with her family in Miami, where she works as a school teacher.
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'Diaspora people only run for president'
Ms. Jonaissant?s American husband and daughter have never been to Haiti, and she is admittedly less interested in Haiti elections than she is in the four Haitians running for US Congress from Florida. But she is also one of many diaspora members who have felt the need to get involved in reconstruction efforts. Since the earthquake she has been back three times and is planning more trips.
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?We are coming to help, not to hurt," she says. "The government needs to understand that and make people understand that."
<o></o>
Many in Haiti are suspicious of returnees like Jonaissant, who are perceived as removed from their reality. They often see returnees with political aspirations as carpetbaggers. They suspect that some returnees are motivated by greed at a time when millions of dollars are being moved into the country, rather than by a genuine, long-term commitment to its people.
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?These diaspora candidates haven?t been doing anything for us," Carel Pedre, a popular radio host in Port-au-Prince, told the Monitor in an interview.
"They are great doctors and engineers, but you only hear about them when the election time comes."
<o></o>
?They should have been involved in Haiti much before the election,? he says, while pointing to Wyclef Jean as an exception.
<o></o>
?Diaspora people only run for president, you don?t see them running for other positions,? Mr. Pedre says. ?I would love to have a well-educated, diaspora mayor of Port-au-Prince, but they only come here when they think they can become president.?
<o>
</o>

 

[las2137]

This is a bit of a long article but it says what is becoming obvious - that the CEP pick and choose candidates not according to the rules but according to the political motives of the people they represent.

You beat me to it, Pedro!

Here is the link, for those who want to read it from the source.

I thought the last paragraph was particularly interesting:

Many in Haiti are suspicious of returnees like Jonaissant, who are perceived as removed from their reality. They often see returnees with political aspirations as carpetbaggers. They suspect that some returnees are motivated by greed at a time when millions of dollars are being moved into the country, rather than by a genuine, long-term commitment to its people.

?These diaspora candidates haven?t been doing anything for us," Carel Pedre, a popular radio host in Port-au-Prince, told the Monitor in an interview. "They are great doctors and engineers, but you only hear about them when the election time comes."

?They should have been involved in Haiti much before the election,? he says, while pointing to Wyclef Jean as an exception.

?Diaspora people only run for president, you don?t see them running for other positions,? Mr. Pedre says. ?I would love to have a well-educated, diaspora mayor of Port-au-Prince, but they only come here when they think they can become president.?

On the one hand, the diaspora claims that the existing laws make it too difficult to become actively involved in political life back in Haiti. On the other hand, it seems that many still in Haiti resent the diaspora coming back and trying to become active. Doesn't seem like there is a solution that would make either side happy.

 

[pedrochemical]

You beat me to it, Pedro!

Here is the link, for those who want to read it from the source.

I thought the last paragraph was particularly interesting:



On the one hand, the diaspora claims that the existing laws make it too difficult to become actively involved in political life back in Haiti. On the other hand, it seems that many still in Haiti resent the diaspora coming back and trying to become active. Doesn't seem like there is a solution that would make either side happy.

The only people that have a problem with expats coming home and getting involved in politics - or anything else for that matter - is the incumbent elite who see them as a threat. That is what we are seeing expressed now.
One set of rules for the friends of the elites and another set of rules for everybody else.


Regular Haitians mainly have no problem with expats returning and doing things in Haiti.
In fact they aspire to this life.
At least the ones I know.

 

[Adrian Bye]

its an interesting statement about haiti -- Leonel was a dom york who grew up in washington heights and he's done fine as president of the DR.

 

[pedrochemical]

What sucks is that the international element overseeing and paying for this election are just going to stand around and do nothing about this corruption taking place in full view of everyone.

The CEP are not even trying to hide their corruption.
They are not even intending to provide a list of reasons why candidates have been refused!!!!
They say that they are the highest authority in the land when it comes to elections and cannot be challenged.
They are comfortable with that.

They have been selected and allegedly bought and paid for.
The 2 that would not be part of this scam are in Miami (probably a good move!) and 1 guy who tried to object was suddenly deemed corrupt and had to resign - Haitian irony at its comedic best.


Again, to break this stranglehold on Haiti - what do people have to do?

Especially when it is rubber stamped by Clinton, the UN and the Commission of Electoral Observation - the electoral inspectors from the OAS.

Outrageous but very Haitian.




[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

 

[Adrian Bye]

pedro, as you find concise documents / news articles which explain this CEP corruption in a clear way to outsiders, please feel free to keep posting them in this thread. i can't do anything right away, but over time i'll be able to make sure the right people see them.

 

[pedrochemical]

pedro, as you find concise documents / news articles which explain this CEP corruption in a clear way to outsiders, please feel free to keep posting them in this thread. i can't do anything right away, but over time i'll be able to make sure the right people see them.

I advise anybody who wants to know about this stuff to go to this link -

Bob Corbett's Haiti Page

And join his mailing list.

The link is the second from the top in blue.

Fascinating and different points of view expressed.

 

[Mariot]

This is a bit of a long article but it says what is becoming obvious - that the CEP pick and choose candidates not according to the rules but according to the political motives of the people they represent.
Are international organisations going to do anything about this? Hell no!
Why? Well it seems they share the same political imperatives as the baastards who have perpetrated this fraud.

</o>

of course they do. not only did they participate in ousting aristide and get these guys in power, but they actively helped to cover up the existence of government death squats after the coup. so if international organizations bring people in power who than go on to build private airports for drug shipments in their backyard, what makes you think they are interested in change?

i'm not implying aristide was a good guy here, but he certainly was not worse than the guys that followed him. and international organizations interested in change should not mix with the people they have mixed with in haiti.

 

[rice&beans]

Good stuff

I advise anybody who wants to know about this stuff to go to this link -

Bob Corbett's Haiti Page

And join his mailing list.

The link is the second from the top in blue.

Fascinating and different points of view expressed.

Holy cow!!....talk about a wealth of info.....:glasses:

 

[RacerX]

Holy cow!!....talk about a wealth of info.....:glasses:

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[greydread]

Haiti's future:

 

[RacerX]

Robeson? I m impressed!

 

[greydread]

Robeson? I m impressed!

one of my 10 desert island movies: The Emperor Jones (1920 version)

 

[rice&beans]

Cep

Nice vid Racer.....