KINGSTON, Jamaica – Haiti’s Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry, on Sunday warned against imposing an “outside” solution to the political and socio-economic situation in his country even as he welcomed yet another initiative to build consensus and allow for inclusive participation in a neutral environment.
Haitian Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry addressing conference on Haiti in Jamaica on Sunday (CCMC Photo)“I am very happy that CARICOM has convinced all the stakeholders to come to this beautiful city of Kingston to have this discussion…and to convince everyone that long lasting solution to the problem in Haiti can be brought about through commitment and dialogue,” Henry told the start of a three-day consultation process here on Haiti.
“This is a first step. There will be others to go through all of the stages if necessary to rebuild our country,” he told the consultation that has been endorsed by CARICOM leaders following Jamaica’s offer to host the event during its participation in a mission to Haiti recently.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said last week that Kingston is providing the venue for the consultations as well as arrangements to facilitate the attendees, who will include representatives from Haiti; the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), which comprises three former prime ministers, the CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett and representatives from international partners and donor support for Haiti including the United States and Canada.
Henry, who came to office following the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, said he was here to represent his interim administration and hoped the exercise here would lead to something tangible.
“Indeed we did the same thing two weeks ago in Port au Prince and we cannot continue to negotiate indefinitely. However, I think that each time people of Haiti sit down to discuss and deliberate and every time we must all be present.
“We all know that no sustainable solution will come from outside neither can it be imposed by others whether it be from the CARICOM or elsewhere. It is up to us the people of Haiti together, amongst ourselves, through our own efforts to find a national project which will bring us together and to have a rebirth of our nation,” Henry said.
“We did not come here to negotiate for another agreement,” he said, adding that the deliberations should be about “the next steps we have to take to rebuild our democracy.
“We must speak the truth to each other….some of us wanted to get into power without going through elections and also to choose a new prime minister…others thought that it was necessary to have a safe and secure place so that the people of Haiti could then choose the men and women that they want to represent them.”
He said these discussions are taking place against the backdrop of a cholera outbreak in the country that official figures released last week showed that nearly 800 people had died from the disease since last October.
In addition, there is also the unstable situation with galloping inflation “and so many other difficulties and challenges,” including criminal gangs blocking roads and causing further hardship on the population.
“So many people of the population have been affected. We do not have any more time to waste. We need a national effort to take our country out of this (situation), we have to start once again to become a normal country.
“You do not know how difficult it is for us as Haitian leaders to go into international meetings and to hear people talking once again about the crisis, the difficulties besetting our country instead of looking at economic situations, our potential for tourism, attracting investment and helping our young people who are forced to leave our country.
“We have been in this transition for two years now and it is high time for us to start the process that will lead us to free and democratic elections,” Henry said, adding “if everything had gone well we would have been in a pre-election period.
“We would have had time to look at the constitution…and the promise was to have reforms for the civil service,” he said, noting that other efforts would by now be bearing fruit.
“We have to prove to our compatriots that we are serious when we say that we want to give the people right to decide their own destiny. Today on behalf of the government I hold out a fraternal hand to you and invite you to work together with us to bring about the changes that I mentioned.
“Of course, not everyone can be a minister, however we can do so much together for the interest of the country,” he said, urging an end to corruption and reform of the financial sector.
“We will be having general elections soon. The population must have trust in the process and they must be sure that their vote will be taken into account and that is the indispensable solution for strong participation…to have a certain legitimacy of the government of the future.”
He called on all present to work with all stakeholders in Haiti, examining ways of financing political parties, bring about renewable energy among other projects.
“We are waiting for you. Haiti needs the contribution of everyone. Its daughters and sons. We had to leave Haiti to meet again. I sincerely hope this meeting will be successful and this will lead to more fruitful meetings because we have so many subjects to agree on,” he told the conference.
