SCENSETTER FOR CODEL PRICE VISIT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT AU PRINCE 000330 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS SOUTHCOMALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA SUBJECT: SCENSETTER FOR CODEL PRICE VISIT PORT AU PR 00000330 001.2 OF 004 ¶1. This cable is sensitive but unclassified --- please protect accordingly. 2.(U) We very much look forward to your visit to Haiti next week and have worked hard to put together a program that will begin to build bridges between the Congress and the Parliament. Parliamentary leaders are eager to welcome your delegation to Port au Prince and are greatly appreciative of Congress' support for their parliamentary development. They value these links. 3.(U) The Haitian Parliament is a work in progress. Elected in the legislative polls of May, 2006, the vast majority of the members have no parliamentary experience or indeed, experience with any kind of government service. Parliamentary institutions are weak to non-existent, as you will see in the paragraphs below. The quality of staff is poor. The link between constituencies and parliamentarians is often limited and most members spend the bulk of their time in the capital. 4.(U) That being said, many in Parliament want it to play its constitutional role as counterweight and counterpoint to the Executive. It has called government ministers to testify before committees, spoken out against the recent surge in violence, and initiated investigation of alleged executive branch malfeasance. Like most Haitians, the Parliament's primary concern is security. Although MINUSTAH, the UN stabilization force, has begun operations in Cite Soleil, gangs continue to pose a threat to parts of Port-au-Prince. Parliamentarians have strong views about the situation, and it is a topic you will want to raise with them. They share President Preval's concern that Haitian security is being undermined by drug trafficking and look to the U.S. to fix this problem for the country. While generally appreciative of US assistance, they often ask for more, particularly in the rural areas and seek frequent reassurance that the United States will not walk away from it. ¶5. (U) President Preval has confirmed the meeting for February 22 at 4 p.m. You will find Preval has many of the same concerns: security, drugs, economic development, as his colleagues in the Parliament and we look forward to briefing ;you further on them upon you arrival. ¶6. (U) The following is general information on the Parliament the delegation may find useful as it prepares for its visit. Parliamentary Basics ¶7. (U) Haiti's parliament is comprised of the senate and the chamber of deputies. The senate and the chamber meet separately under the leadership of their individual executive boards and form their own committees (called commissions). One bicameral committee on parliamentary assistance exists and is tasked with coordination of aid from the international community. When both houses meet jointly, the body is referred to as the national assembly, and presided over by the senate president. There are 30 senate and 99 deputy seats. Senators are elected from 10 departments while deputies represent districts, known as circonscriptions. The senate, unlike the chamber, is permanently in session. The senators may voluntarily adjourn but not during the legislative season of the chamber, which is the second Monday of January to the second Monday in May and from the second Monday in June to the second Monday in September. Facilities -------------- ¶8. (U) The ''Legislative Palace'' is located 150 meters across from the U.S. Embassy. The three story white building dates from 1946 and is in average condition. This building houses the national assembly gallery, used by the chamber for its plenary sessions, the senate gallery, a small diplomatic lounge, and the administrative offices of the deputies' leadership. Parliamentarians, minus the five executive bureau members, do not have workspace at the parliament nor do they have district offices. PORT AU PR 00000330 002.2 OF 004 ¶9. (U) The senate administrative building located just behind the palace has larger administrative offices and one room for committee meetings. The two-room library sits next to the senate office building. The Preval government has turned over two adjacent government buildings, the former labor court and the former government run newspaper building. These buildings have been under renovation for some time and there is no projected finish date. The government of Cuba recently donated a seven-story building two blocks from the parliament to the senate. The Canadians are in discussion with the senate to fund the rehabilitation of the building. ¶10. (U) Modern technology is absent at the national assembly. Plenary session notes are taken by hand and transcribed to include in books. The existing server does not work and employees and parliamentarians alike are unable to access information via internet. Given the hard copy nature of the parliamentary material, information is not readily available to the public. Parliament Staff ¶11. (U) The chamber employs approximately 165 permanent employees, in departments covering public relations, security, archives, computer services, protocol, administration, and staff assistants to the members. According to the Senate's secretary general of administrative affairs, there are approximately 340 staff members at the senate. No personnel records are readily available that define the role of each staff member. Most lack training for their jobs and lack technical expertise for the task of member and committee support. Political Party Composition ¶12. (U) The chamber has 98 of 99 deputies from 18 political parties. Ten deputies were recently sworn in on January 12 after a third round of elections late last year. One deputy seat remains open after a mob took electoral tally sheets on election-day from MINUSTAH troops. Lespwa, President Preval's party, holds the most seats, with 22 seats. The other larger parties include Fusion, Alyans, and OPL. ¶13. (U) The Senate is comprised of eight political parties. It is also short one member, having 29 of 30 senators. The Lespwa senator from Artibonite died in a car accident on January 23, 2007. Special elections have not been held to fill his seat. Chamber of Deputies by political party: Lespwa: 22 Fusion: 16 Alyans: 11 OPL: 9 Lavalas: 6 Union: 6 MPH: 4 RDNP: 4 Action in Artibonite (LAAA): 4 KONBA: 3 FRN: 2 MOCHRENA: 3 MRN: 1 Tet Ansem: 1 MIRN: 1 JPDN: 1 PLH: 1 MODEREH: 1 Senate by political party: Lespwa: 10 (vice 11 due to death of Noel Emmanuel Limage) Fusion:5 Lavalas: 3 LAAA: 2 Union: 2 PONT: 2 PORT AU PR 00000330 003.2 OF 004 Alyans:2 OPL: 1 Leadership ¶14. (U) A five-person executive board elected by the members runs each chamber. The board includes a president, vice-president, first and second secretaries, and a questeur The questeur serves as the chief operations officer and is in charge of the administrative aspects of parliament. ¶15. (SBU) The senate president, Joseph Lambert, is a Lespwa member from the southeast department. Lambert is a polished politician who entered national politics in 1994 as a deputy. Senator Lambert worked for the Department of Agriculture as an agronomist, establishing a strong network of contacts in the peasant and agricultural communities of the Southeast. He has a solid reputation in the southeast and it is said that all parliamentary candidates in his department needed his endorsement for their candidacy to garner the support of the constituency. His close collaboration with Dr Fourel Celestin, former senator of the southeast and President of the National Assembly during Aristide II, serving a sentence in a Miami for drug trafficking, brings a shadow of suspicion over Lambert. Lambert has vigorously denied any drug activity and has offered to the Embassy assistance with curbing drug activity as well as spearheading the effort in the legislature. ¶16. (SBU) Eric Jean-Jacques, also a member of Lespwa, leads the lower house and is a less formidable leader than the former but has made some strides since his first term as president. He recently won a second term as president by according his peers favors. His management of the chamber has led to an apathetic membership. Relationship between the two chambers ¶17. (U) The two chambers have a contentious relationship that was recently displayed in childish manner. During this year's opening session, with international community and press gathered, the deputies refused to begin the session until they could sing the national anthem. Despite the senators objection because the anthem is not normally sung during senate plenary sessions, the national anthem was added to the program. ¶18. (SBU) Deputies have failed to hold a quorum for most of the year and Lambert complains that it retards the work of the senate. Notwithstanding this fragile relationship, the senate and the chamber worked well to pass the budget. The bicameral commission on parliamentary assistance is another area in which the senators and deputies work well collaboratively. Legislative Activity ¶19. (U) The two houses have not yet produced any legislation. They have considered several laws that have been put in front of them by the executive but no committee in either house has presented its respective chamber with any legislation. The executive will soon present parliament with three laws: to establish a judicial council, to define a statue of magistrates (''magistrates'' refers to investigators as well as judges),and to restore the inactive school of magistrates. The international community would like to encourage parliamentarians to pass these laws, however imperfect, in order to move judicial reform forward. NCSC and other organizations working with parliament have held working-group sessions to explain and encourage backing of all three complimentary laws. You should urge members of parliament to seriously and swiftly consider the passage of the laws. ¶20. (U) While parliament has not been active in producing legislation, both houses have held several hearings with PORT AU PR 00000330 004.2 OF 004 members of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister himself. The Prime Minister has appeared before the chamber on three occasions to discuss security. Most ministers have appeared at least once to discuss the budget. Hearings are generally prompted by one act versus a larger problem. For example, the Minister of Culture recently appeared to discuss carnival plans as opposed to a larger discussion on promoting Haitian culture. Scandals and Corruption ¶21. (U) One Senator claims that several of his colleagues adopted a banking resolution (seeking a negotiated settlement between Socabank and the BRH rather than an investigation of Socabank's management) after being paid bribes for their vote by Socabank board members. There are additional rumors that some members of parliament are involved in narco-trafficking as well as visa selling. A Senate commission has been formed to investigate these claims and has been interviewing deputies publicly since January 13. This particular story has captured the attention of the public and has cast some doubt over the integrity of the senate. ¶22. (SBU) Likewise, the lower house is embroiled in a conflict that concerns one deputy and a high-ranking member of the Haitian National Police (HNP). The clash is illustrative of deputy immaturity, consistently seeking privilege and perks with their public position. These conflicts have prompted daily radio and newspaper spots, seeking ''model behavior'' from parliamentarians. Parliamentary assistance program USAID ¶23. (U) USAID awarded a contract in late August 2006 to the State University of New York Center for International Development and its partner, ARD, Inc. to begin work with Haiti's newly seated members of parliament, their staff, and civil society. Members of Parliament, senior Parliamentary staff and project staff work closely to identify priority needs to support the institutional capacity of Parliament, and increase its capacity to effectively interact with citizens. This three-year project includes a broad range of activities to strengthen Parliament's legislative, representation, and oversight functions. Timing ¶24. (U) Your visit comes immediately following Haiti's largest cultural event, Mardi Gras (Carnival). Government operations, schools, and businesses have taken a several day holiday. Many of the Members of Parliament have returned to their district to share in the local festivities. Member and staff participation may be low for the program. Services may be slower and more difficult to access in the post-Mardi Gras time. SANDERSON