SENATE APPROVES ALEXIS, DEPUTIES VOTE PENDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000945

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: 05/24/2011
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: SENATE APPROVES ALEXIS, DEPUTIES VOTE PENDING

REF: A. PAUP 938

B. PAUP 936

C. PAUP 847

Classified By: Ambassador Janet Sanderson for reason 1.4(b).


1. (SBU) The senate on the afternoon of May 25 approved the
nomination of Jacques Edouard Alexis by a vote of 20 to 4.
The OPL bloc of four voted against Alexis, according to press
reports. The vote in the chamber of deputies is pending.
Alexis told the Ambassador today (May 25) that he was
confident the chamber would approve his nomination by Friday;
he was already in intensive discussions with President Preval
regarding the members of his cabinet. Senior Preval advisor
Alix Fils-Aime and Lavalas parliamentarians on May 24 told
Polcouns and Poloff in separate conversations that they
expected the deputies and the Preval team to conduct serious
negotiations with regard to the composition of the cabinet
and that the chamber would vote on the nomination by the end
of Friday.


2. (C) Fils-Aime acknowledged that the Preval team
understood that it would have include ministers supported by
various parties in order to secure approval for Alexis. The
parties should put their suggestions forward and that Preval
and Alexis would judge them on their qualifications.
Fils-Aime suggested that the likely scenario was that main
blocs in the chamber of deputies would support Alexis in
exchange for an agreement in principle on a certain number of
ministerial slots. Alexis would then head up the
negotiations on the formation of the cabinet the following
week. Fils-Aime added that Preval would insist that some
ministries remain within his purview. Polcouns suggested
that this sounded like normal political give-and-take;
"exactly," responded Fils-Aime. He expressed confidence that
Alexis would win final approval from the parliament by Friday.


3. (SBU) Fils-Aime also stressed that Preval's approach to
the parliament continued to center around the priorities of
developing the technical and institutional capacities of the
senate and the chamber, and maintaining the constitutional
integrity of all branches of government. (Preval advisor
Robert Manuel outlined the same program to the Ambassador the
previous week, per ref A.) Preval would continue to work on
improving working conditions for the parliament, including
the construction of a new National Assembly building. He had
already sent over a team of technical advisors to assist
parliament in budget preparations.


4. (C) Lavalas deputies told Poloff that they had added
additional members to their bloc, which now totaled 39 of the
88 deputies (ref B). They lamented that Chamber President
Jean-Jacques (L'Espwa) had succeeded in hand-picking the
committee members who would initially evaluate Alexis'
nomination, thus the pro-Alexis group would likely dominate
the discussion. Their bloc would follow the general mood of
the national assembly and vote in favor of Alexis if Preval's
team were sufficiently forthcoming. They stressed, however,
that the entire cabinet and Alexis' program faced a vote of
confidence subsequent to his initial approval, and that their
bloc would at that point stand firm in holding out for their
demands, if necessary.


5. (C) Comment. Haitian political observers judge that the
senate successfully punted the final decision on Alexis over
to the chamber of deputies, where the blocs prepared to press
their demands on Preval were better organized. Senate
President Joseph Lambert, whatever his past (ref C),has
demonstrated some leadership abilities in his first full
week, delivering on his promise to approve Alexis within 72
hours of the nomination.
SANDERSON