By Jean Daniel Senate, Le Nouvelliste, May 25, 2023
Several sources have confirmed to Le Nouvelliste that political, civil society, and business leaders will meet in Jamaica from June 11 to 13 to discuss the crisis.
CARICOM has hired three former prime ministers: Perry Christie (Bahamas), Bruce Golding (Jamaica) and Kenny Antony (Saint Lucia) to facilitate discussions. The invitation was sent to the attendees by the Bahamas. Jamaica will host the meeting.
Le Nouvelliste has learned that the discussions will focus on themes such as governance and security, rule of law, and an agreement on the organization of elections. An outline of a roadmap was included in the invitations. According to sources, this outline is not supposed to substitute participation of the attendees. The source explained that the mediators have indicated that they would like to facilitate a dialogue between key players on an agreed upon agenda.
According to our source, “the mediators believe that three fundamental questions must be addressed during the discussions: what are the interim governance measures needed in the run-up to the general elections to restore confidence in the transition and ensure that the government can deliver on its commitments? The issue of security; how to organize credible general elections to choose a legitimate government representative of the Haitian people? What fundamental reforms are needed to ensure that the current crisis does not happen again.”
Invitations were sent to Prime Minister Ariel Henry; the president of Henry's High Transition council (HCT), Myrlande Manigat; Ted Saint Dic of the Montana Accord; Jerry Tardieu, coordinator of the En Avant political party; Claude Joseph the coordinator of the political party "les Engagés pour le Développement" (EDE); Pierre Esperance, director of the Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH), and others. .
Le Nouvelliste was unable to contact other personalities whose names appear in a guest list.
In an interview with Magik9 May 22, 2023, Claude Joseph of EDE confirmed that he had received an invitation. “We have not yet decided to follow-up on this invitation. We are curious to know who the other attendees are. The National Political Bureau of EDE has not yet decided whether to participate or not,” Joseph said.
Contacted by Le Nouvelliste, SDP leader André Michel indicated that he had received an invitation. He did not indicate whether he intends to attend or not. “Yes, I received an invitation to participate in these discussions,” he replied.
Ted Saint Dic also confirmed that Montana was invited. “We are in the process of evaluating the project for this meeting and its objectives. We have not yet decided whether or not we will participate,” Saint Dic told Le Nouvelliste.
Liné Balthazar of PHTK said that he had not received any correspondence to date. “I only heard rumors. The PHTK has not yet received an invitation. If we receive an invitation to discuss the crisis with other leaders we will honor it. But that's not the case yet," he said.
Jerry Tardieu confirmed that he received an invitation. The former deputy of Pétion-Ville indicated his party must consult members before confirming. "Whatever the country where an inter-Haitian dialogue must take place, organized according to the rules of the art, EN AVANT will respond present. As long as we have the assurance that the facilitator is impartial and that it is an authentic dialogue, inclusive, structured, planned, sovereign, organized according to a republican protocol, with a clear agenda previously accepted by the parties and a methodology that puts the Haitian crisis at the heart of the debates,” he explained.
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted May 28, 2023