PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER ALEXIS NOMINATION FOR PM

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000936 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR DRL S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) TREASURY FOR JEFFREY LEVINE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2010 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PINR HA SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER ALEXIS NOMINATION FOR PM Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reason 1.4(b). ¶1. (C) Summary: Parliament is set to open discussion on President Preval's nomination of Jacques Edouard Alexis today, May 24. Most observers expect a vote on Alexis by the end of this week. Political leaders have voiced objection to Alexis, but appear to be positioning themselves to negotiate for ministries within the new cabinet. A Lavalas deputy told poloff that Union, Alyans, and Lavalas had formed a bloc that was prepared to overlook its reservations regarding Alexis in exchange for four cabinet positions. President Preval reportedly consulted with parliamentarians in advance of the announcement, but little of those discussions has become public. Alexis served as Minister for Education Sport and Youth in the first Preval administration and then as Prime Minister from March, 1999 to the end of Preval's term in ¶2001. Canada has declared him ineligible for a visa based on a legislation from the 1990s barring senior Haitian officials serving under dictatorial regimes from 1971 through 1994; it is unclear why this law affects Alexis, who only served as a state university dean during this period. Alexis earned a reputation for arrogance as a decidedly non-concillaitory advocate for Preval during his earlier tenure as PM. Nevertheless, Alexis' supporters highlight his personal honesty and integrity in upholding the constitutional role of the PM. End Summary. Deliberations To Begin... -------------- ¶2. (C) Chamber of Deputies President Eric Pierre Jean-Jacques on May 23 confirmed to Poloff that the National Assembly would convene to discuss Alexis' nomination as PM the following day, as reported by the media. Having announced his intention to nominate Jacques Edouard Alexis on Thursday, May 18, President Preval formally submitted Alexis' nomination to the national assembly on May 22 and asked it to convene to consider the nomination. Both the senate and the chamber of deputies must approve the appointment of the PM by simple majority. Jean-Jacques was close-mouthed about the likely course of deliberations and declined to speculate when the National Assembly would vote on the nomination. He reported that President Preval had visited the parliament the previous day, but had not discussed Alexis nomination. Senate President Joseph Lambert publicly announced on May 22 that the National Assembly would vote on the Alexis nomination within 72 hours. Media commentators expect that the assembly will vote on Alexis by the end of this Friday. Along with Horse Trading? -------------- ¶3. (C) Lavalas deputy Sourel Francois told poloff on the morning of May 24 that Lavalas had formed a bloc of 30 deputies with Union (Protestant party led by Chavane Jeunne) and Alyans (populist party led by Evans Paul). The bloc opposed Alexis because he was not a unifying figure and had had a difficult relationship with parliament during his first tenure as Prime Minister. The bloc was prepared, however, to approve Alexis' nomination in exchange for the leadership of the Public Works, Social Affairs, Education, and Culture ministries. Francois indicated that these slots were open to negotiation. He further reported that OPL (a splinter party from the original Lavalas movement) and Konba (a peasant movement based in the central plateau) together were also seeking two ministries, education and commerce. Fusion also expected at least one ministry in exchange for its support for Alexis. ¶4. (C) Preval campaign manager and confidant Robert Manuel on May 18 that Preval had conducted extensive discussions civil society leaders and with parliamentarians regarding Alexis' nomination and planned to follow-up. Preval told the media on May 22 that he had gained approval for Alexis from a wide range of political and social leaders prior to his announcement. Preval confidante Robert Manuel told the Ambassador on May 18 that Preval had conducted intensive consultations with parliamentarians and that some had raised objections, but predicted that Alexis would win approval if Preval stood firm. Fusion leader Serge Gill and OPL leader Paul Denis, representing the two parties most often cited as potential Preval allies apart from L'Espwa, told Polcouns on May 23 that their parties had consulted with Preval, but that they would come to a position on Alexis in the course of parliamentary deliberations. Preval has given no indication that he was prepared to offer specific ministries to parties in exchange for support for Alexis, but has signaled, most notably in his statement during his visit to the National Assembly on May 22 that he would seek to form an "open government," that he is prepared to negotiate. Second Time for Alexis -------------- ¶5. (C) Alexis personal ties to Preval stem from his training as an agronomist. Alexis served as the dean of agronomy at Haiti's State University before co-founding the private Kiskeya University in 1990. Preval brought him into his first administration in 1995 as Minister for Education Youth and Sport. Alexis had no prior experience in politics and did not associate with Lavalas or any other political movement. Preval nominated Alexis prime minister in December 1999, but after approving the nomination, National Assembly refused to confirm his ratify government program. Preval ultimately confirmed Alexis by decree in March, 1999 after effectively dissolving the National Assembly subsequent to the delayed parliamentary elections of 1998. Technically serving as an interim Prime Minister with a mandate focused on conducting the parliamentary elections, Alexis quickly gained a reputation as an aggressive, if not arrogant, advocate for Preval's wider policies. He aroused Lavalas indignation by concluding the privatization of the state flour mill and seeking to implement the IMF's structural adjustment policy. He later came under opposition fire as a result of his administration's perceived support for the contested results senatorial elections in 2000, which gave Lavalas a near sweep of senate seats on the basis of a manipulated vote count. Trouble with Canada -------------- ¶6. (C) Controvery erupted in advance of a visit by Preval to Ottawa in March after Alexis acknowledged with a bitter protest that the GoC had denied him a visa for the visit. (The GoC later offered to issue a one-entry visa for the trip, but Alexis refused, demanding his name be cleared.) Polcouns' counterpart in the Canadian Embassy told Polcouns on May 23 that the ineligibility stems from legislation enacted by the Canadian parliament in the mid-1990s that bars all senior Haitian officials, including department heads working directly for ministers, who served under non-democratic governments in the period 1971-1994. The Canadian Embassy continued to research why Alexis had fallen into this category. (Note: based on our own reading of Alexis biography, the only possible disqualifying position he held during the period was dean of agronomy at the state university. The leadership positions at the university were not generally associated with the oppressive or non-democratic practices of the Haitian governments of this period. End Note.) The Canadian Poulcons admitted that the Embassy found itself in an embarrassing position and had communicated to Ottawa that the GoC stance toward Alexis was unreasonable and would complicate bilateral relations. Because the policy resulted from legislation, he expected that legislative action to modify the previous law would take some time. ¶5. (C) Comment. To the extent that we have dealt with Alexis during the campaign and the transition, we have found Alexis to be open and approachable. Alexis has publicly repeated Preval's formulation that Aristide is legally permitted to return to Haiti, but privately has left no doubt that he shares Preval's bitter resentment of Aristide and the Lavalas legacy. Though Alexis has no independent political base and owes his position in government entirely to Preval, his supporters claim he is nevertheless personally honest, an independent actor, and forthright in upholding the constitutional role of the PM during his earlier tenure. SANDERSON