By Jonasson Odigène, Le Nouvelliste, Jan 03, 2025
After a long hiatus from the media landscape, former senator Jean Charles Moïse is finally breaking his silence. Since the arrival of the TPC at the head and the suspicions of corruption weighing on it, while a number of massacres have occured.
"If the presidential advisers do not make the necessary corrections, we will dissolve the TPC and turn to the Court of Cassation," Jean Charles Moïse said on Magik9 on January 3, 2025. Moïse gave the TPC a deadline of one week.
According to the ambiguous principle of "sharing responsibilities", Jean Charles Moïse is in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR). He has criticized what he views as low funding allocation. During the last week of December 2024, in a voice message that went viral, Jean Charles Moïse was heard denouncing the little money allocated to the MARNDR and the blockages in the appointment of certain general directors from Pitit Dessalines.
Jean Charles Moïse pointed the finger at presidential advisor Fritz Alphonse Jean, who, he said, opposed the installation of a new board of directors at the Banque Nationale de Crédit (BNC) close to Pitit Dessalines. Mr. Moïse also denounced the attempt by an unamed person who he claims wanted to appropriate 85 town hall cartels for the benefit of his political clan.
Solidarity with the CPT indictees
Jean Charles Moïse denounced the conclusions of the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) and sees it as a "political plot.". Meanwhile, Pitit Dessalines' representative, Emmanuel Vertilaire, and presidential advisers Smith Augustin and Louis Gérald Gilles, respectively from the EDE/RED coalition and the Historic Compromise and the December 21 Accord, are charged with corruption.
"We will not abandon our representative and we give our full support to the two other advisors targeted," Moïse said, in contrast to the other sectors who have demanded the withdrawal of the accused.
While Moïse says he does not oppose the legal proceedings taken against the presidential advisers, he calls for respect for constitutional requirements. "The three presidential advisers are subject to the High Court of Justice," argued Jean Charles Moïse, specifying that an ordinary judge cannot examine the case of three people who hold certain presidential prerogatives and calling on the investigating judge in charge of the case to recuse himself.
The former mayor of Milot argued that the three indicted members of the TPC were used by the other members of the council. "When they wanted to overthrow Prime Minister Garry Conille and appoint Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, all the presidential advisers united. But when it came time to adopt other decisions, we opposed the participation of the three accused advisers," Moïse said, presenting these three presidential advisers as "persecuted".
Moïse ultimatum to the TPC is the first of its kind from the head of Pitit Dessalines. On Thursday, January 2, 2025, he organized a meeting with his supporters in the North of the country in order to motivate them in the event of an upcoming mobilization. Pressure or real threat? If he were to turn his back to the TPC, it would surprise no one as Moïse is a master in the art of making and breaking alliances.
Already in February 2024, Moïse had allied himself with the former leader of the anti-Aristide rebellion, and former convict for money laundering in the USA Guy Philippe in order to lead a mobilization to overthrow Ariel Henry. After the latter's resignation, Jean Charles Moïse dropped Guy Philippe to appoint a representative to the TPC, something he had initially opposed.
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted Jan. 16, 2025