Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTAUPRINCE936
2006-05-24 17:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

PARLIAMENT TO CONSIDER ALEXIS NOMINATION FOR PM

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM PINR HA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0014
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPU #0936/01 1441751
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241751Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3119
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1062
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0907
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL//OLE/OI//
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).

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