HAITI MONTHLY: DECEMBER 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001772

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DEPT FOR WHA/EX, WHA/CAR, AND INR/IAA
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI MONTHLY: DECEMBER 2008

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Donald L. Moore for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d)


1. (U) Summary: This is a monthly report on various
political topics of interest which do not merit a full
reporting cable. End summary.


2. (SBU) MOST POLITICAL PARTIES REGISTER FOR ELECTIONS.
According to the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP),
twenty-seven political parties were officially registered for
the planned April 19 partial Senate elections by the December
18 deadline, including Lavalas, Lespwa, OPL, Fusion, and
several smaller political parties. The CEP subsequently
announced an extension of the deadline to December 30. The
fact that a number of political parties met the initial
deadline may bode well for greater political party
participation than anticipated when several parties openly
criticized the CEP after the election date was announced in
October.


3. (SBU) PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT AGREE ON 2009 LEGISLATIVE
AGENDA. In a MINUSTAH-sponsored conference December 9-10,
Parliamentary leaders and key GOH officials agreed on an
ambitious legislative agenda for the first half of 2009.
Many key USG priorities such as anti-corruption legislation
and draft laws on political parties and local government were
included, although the agenda did not address trafficking in
persons. Senate President Kely Bastien (Lespwa, West)
praised the workshop as an unprecedented step forward in
cooperation with the executive branch; the resulting
agreement was a bright spot in an otherwise tempestuous month
for relations between the Parliament and Prime Minister
Pierre-Louis's government.


4. (SBU) INTERPELLATION OF FINANCE MINISTER ANNOUNCED, AGAIN.
Senator Anacacis Jean-Hector (Lespwa, West) announced
December 16 that he and several colleagues will proceed with
a plan to interpellate Finance Minister Daniel Dorsainvil on
January 14. The same Senators had announced a plan to summon
Dorsainvil in December but postponed that move after a
meeting between the Prime Minister and parliamentary leaders
December 2. A number of politicians have criticized the
Finance Minister for being too slow to disburse emergency
funds in the wake of the August-September hurricanes.
Dorsainvil is likely to survive any vote of confidence, but
his interpellation signals increased frustration in
Parliament with perceived missteps in the government's
disaster relief efforts.


5. (C) CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS FOLLOW DRUG MONEY SEIZURE IN
PORT-DE-PAIX. Allegations of police and judicial corruption
are swirling following a mid-November police raid on the home
of suspected drug dealer Alain Desir (now in U.S. custody)
near the northern city of Port-de-Paix that resulted in the
seizure of USD 1.7 million in cash. There are strong
indications that the amount of cash found in the home was far
higher than the USD 1.7 million the Port-de-Paix police
turned in to Port au Prince, and that local police and
prosecutors divided a large amount of cash among themselves.
The Minister of Justice told the press December 29 that all
police involved in the initial raid have been suspended
pending an investigation, and that the Ministry has also
suspended the senior judge in the Port-de-Paix district for
insubordination after the judge declared a work stoppage to
protest the alleged pilfering of seized funds by police and
prosecutors involved in the case. Senator Evaliere Beauplan
(Northwest, Pont) vehemently denied a report that
Port-de-Paix officials involved in the seizure set aside USD
20,000 for him. The Haitian Parliament has announced a
bicameral inquiry into the affair.


6. (SBU) TRANSIT DISPUTE INFLAMES TENSIONS WITH DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC. Haitian press reports that bus service to the
Dominican Republic has been interrupted after protestors,
reportedly from a Dominican drivers union, repeatedly impeded
Haitian-owned busses from crossing back into Haiti. Despite
the announcement of an agreement to permit cross-border
traffic December 23, the director of Haiti's Capital Coach
Lines told the press the next day that his companies would
not resume service until the GODR could guarantee the safety

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of his drivers and passengers. Two GOH ministers have
reportedly interceded with their Dominican counterparts to
resolve the situation. Coming on the heels of acts violence
against Haitians living in the DR, this incident has further
burdened relations between the two countries.


7. (SBU) CONFUSION PERSISTS OVER STATUS OF BOULOS'S SENATE
SEAT. A lawyer for Rudolph Boulos (Fusion, Northwest)
announced in late December that he will challenge in court
any attempt to hold an election to fill Boulos's seat in the
Haitian Senate. (Note: A month-long Senate inquiry
concluded in March 2008 that Boulos, who was born in New
York, is a U.S. citizen and therefore never legitimately held
the title of Senator, since the Haitian constitution
prohibits dual-nationality. He announced his resignation
March 18, but retracted it the next day. End note.) The
Senate passed a resolution November 27 referring the matter
to the courts; Provisional Electoral Council officials told
the Embassy in mid-December that there is no final decision
as to whether Boulos's seat will be filled in the upcoming
elections.
MOORE