HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER'S HONEYMOON WITH PARLIAMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001680 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/EX, WHA/CAR, S/CRS, AND INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS TO USOAS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL EFIN HA SUBJECT: HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER'S HONEYMOON WITH PARLIAMENT ENDS REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1377 Classified By: CDA Thomas C. Tighe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis confronted growing criticism of her performance in office with a vigorous defense of her government's disaster relief efforts in a closed session with Parliamentary leaders December 2. Her performance has temporarily checked parliamentarians seeking to exploit public frustration with gaps and slowness in government disaster assistance. The Senate postponed indefinitely its interpellation of Finance Minister Daniel Dorsainvil, originally set for December 9, after the PM made a spirited public defense of the Minister. While the Prime Minister dodged this bullet, further parliamentary friction with her government is inevitable, as individual ministers are called to explain their plans of action. Her initial ''honeymoon'' with parliament is over. End summary. SENATORS ''INVITE'' PM TO DEFEND EMERGENCY SPENDING -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis appeared before members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies leadership December 2 at the invitation of Senate President Kely Bastien (Lespwa, North) to defend her government's emergency spending of USD 197 million in disaster relief funds following the four hurricanes and tropical storms that hit Haiti this summer. Senators Evaliere Beauplan (PONT, Northwest),Yvon Buissereth (Lavalas, South),and Youri Latortue (LAAA, Artibonite) had pressured Bastien to issue the invitation, his chief of staff told Poloff on November 26. In addition, Senator Anacacis Jean Hector (Lespwa, West) has been particularly vocal in criticizing the paucity of concrete results of the emergency spending. Certain contracts for infrastructure projects awarded to firms on an expedited basis have been particularly controversial. ¶3. (SBU) PM Pierre-Louis, accompanied by Minister of Finance Daniel Dorsainvil and other members of the cabinet, defended her government's response to the natural disaster, explaining that USD 143 million of the USD 197 million in Petrocaribe funds allocated for disaster relief under the state of emergency already had been disbursed. She also furnished the Senate with copies of all disaster relief contracts awarded under the state of emergency, as well as ''roadmaps'' for the work of each ministry. Senators Latortue and Beauplan each announced that they were dissatisfied with the pace of infrastructure and agriculture projects in their departments, and vowed to survey their respective departments to independently assess the extent and nature of work performed to date. ¶4. (C) MINUSTAH's parliamentary affairs officer told Poloff on December 3 that the tone of the closed-door meeting was cordial, and that the Prime Minister calmly defended her government in general and her Finance Minister in particular. She also promised a full accounting of the government's emergency spending by January, a key demand of the Senators and a requirement of the law that permits extra budgetary spending in a declared state of emergency. Senate President Bastien told Poloff December 3 that he was ''very satisfied'' with PM Pierre-Louis's explanations of her government's spending, and noted with approval that this was the ''first time'' ministries have submitted roadmaps to the Parliament to describe their planned activities and spending. ¶5. (C) Senator Youri Latortue told Polcouns December 3 that the list of disaster relief contracts and the roadmaps for each ministry had helped allay parliamentary doubts about the government's plan of action. To be sure, he pointed out shortcomings. He criticized the ministerial roadmaps as ''vague'' and lacking operational schedules, and noted that several emergency assistance contracts had been concluded with newly-established companies with no experience, others had been signed after the state of emergency expired October 10, and other signed contracts were not being carried out. Latortue said many parliamentarians believe the government is shortchanging some Departments - although he admitted this was not the case for his own Artibonite Department. PORT AU PR 00001680 002 OF 003 Nevertheless, Latortue said he was relatively optimistic. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies had agreed with the PM to schedule weekly Executive-Legislative sessions with individual ministers to discuss government action on economy and planning, social security and education, and justice/security/police. ¶6. (C) Senator Michel Clerie (Fusion, Grand Anse) was more critical of the PM. He told PolCouns December 5 he had not attended the restricted December 2 hearing but had been briefed by Senators who had, and he was studying the contracts and roadmaps the PM had submitted. Using language harsher than his colleague Latortue, he accused the government of awarding contracts to companies no one had heard of, and claimed there was no evidence on the ground that contracts were being carried out. He harshly criticized Pierre-Louis, claiming she was not acting like a leader of government, but was ''subservient'' to President Preval. She had not moved on security and drug trafficking. He predicted Senators and Deputies would invite her to testify again, as early as January. In the meantime, he said that he and his colleagues would use the weekly sessions with ministers to push them to deliver results from their work plans. INTERPELLATION OF FINANCE MINISTER POSTPONED -------------- ¶7. (C) The idea of convoking the Economy and Finance Minister for a vote of confidence arose when Senator Anacasis Jean-Hector accused the government of hoarding a secret budget surplus of HTG 10 billion (approximately USD 250 million) in the 2007-08 fiscal year. Embassy believes, however, that the apparent surplus consists only of unspent disaster recovery funds allocated from the Petrocaribe account and an increase in foreign currency reserves during the fiscal year. Jean Hector's theories have nonetheless gathered support, including from Rally of National Progressive Democrats (Rassemblement des Democrats Nationaux Progressistes, RDNP) Secretary General Mirlande Manigat. ¶8. (C) However, Dorsainvil's detailed public presentation on December 1 of the facts of the budget shortfall was followed by PM Pierre's Louis' vigorous defense of her Economy and Finance minister to the press immediately following the December 2 session with parliamentary leaders. Senate President Bastien announced on December 2 that the planned interpellation of Finance Minister Dorsainvil December 9 would be postponed indefinitely. Dorsainvil is often criticized for being too fiscally conservative in a time when most Haitians demand immediate social services to cope with their economic crises. In a December 3 conversation with Poloff, Bastien repeated his public line that the postponement would allow the Senators to ''prepare their dossiers,'' but added it was possible the interpellation would not take place at all. (Note: The constitution provides that any five members of either chamber may convoke a government minister for interpellation, which must be followed by a vote of confidence. An absolute majority of the members of that chamber can thus vote the minister out of office. PM Pierre-Louis's appearance, by contrast, was an ad hoc "working meeting" between the Prime Minister and certain officers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. End note.) ¶9. (C) Bastien's chief of staff, Ariel Joseph, told Poloff November 28 that four Senators from Preval's Lespwa coalition had signed the interpellation request, namely Anacacis Jean Hector, Cemephise Gilles, Jean Wilbert Jacques, and Nenel Cassy. Lavalas's Yvon Buissereth and OPL's Joseph Pierre Louis also supported the motion. Senator Latortue told Polcouns that the interpellation initiative arose from internal dissension within the Lespwa coalition, and that there was nothing close to a Senate majority to unseat Minister Dorsainvil. Clerie agreed there was insufficient evidence to interpellate this Minister. Senate Vice President Andris Riche (OPL, Grand'Anse) criticized the planned interpellation, calling the Lespwa Senators hypocritical for seeking the interpellation of a government they voted to approve less than three months before. FURTHER ''INVITATIONS'' PLANNED -------------- PORT AU PR 00001680 003 OF 003 ¶10. (U) Bastien also announced that he planned to convoke various government ministers to explain their ministry's plans in the coming days. A meeting between Parliament's committee chairs and government ministers is also planned for December 9-10, according to MINUSTAH's parliamentary affairs officer, to discuss the legislative agenda of the upcoming session of Parliament. Senator Latortue told Polcouns that upcoming sessions with committee chairs and various ministers once a week would discuss government policy on the economy and planning, social security and education, and justice/security/police, in that order. COMMENT: PRESSURE ON THE PRIME MINISTER RISING -------------- - ¶11. (C) After parliament was seen as largely responsible for keeping the country without a government for five months, and with the new PM facing a national disaster, members of Parliament until now have checked their instinct to attack the government. It appears, however, that the government's ''honeymoon'' is now over (reftel). Increasingly frustrated at their inability to make political capital by visibly involving themselves in international and GOH disaster relief measures, certain Senators and Deputies are moving on the attack. The PM's able performance on December 2 bought her some time. However, she will face continued demands for accounting from Haiti's unruly parliament, as early as next month, where members sense public frustration over the lack of visible projects in the provinces, just as elections approach. TIGHE