CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES REJECTS SECOND PRIME MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 000865 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PAS AID FOR LAC/CAR TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL HA SUBJECT: CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES REJECTS SECOND PRIME MINISTER CANDIDATE REF: A) PORT AU PRINCE 0737 B) PORT AU PRINCE 0701 C) PORT AU PRINCE 0559 Classified By: Ambassador Janet Sanderson. Reason: E.O. 12958 1.4 (b) , (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) A large majority in the Chamber of Deputies on June 12 voted down President Preval's second candidate for Prime Minister, Robert Manuel. Deputies cited constitutional grounds of eligibility based on his recent six-year absence from Haiti. This was at best a pretext: the ad hoc 53-member bloc of deputies ''Coalition of Progressive Parliamentarians'' (CPP) that led the vote against Manuel sought to impress on President Preval that he must deal with them more seriously in the PM selection process. President Preval says privately that the parliamentarians laid down conditions that were exclusively about pork-barrel projects and demands for ministerial positions. He is adamant that he will not give into such demands and that he will force parliament to be accountable. In any case, the nomination process must now begin from square one again, with the President consulting with heads of both houses of Parliament on a new PM candidate, who must then pass parliamentary muster before assembling a new government and submitting it to a vote of confidence. The President says privately he will name a new candidate within days. The rejection of Manuel comes as Haiti enters its third month without a government. Government operations and programs are increasingly short of funds, since the current caretaker government is barred from signing off on new projects. Senate elections this year also look increasingly unlikely. End summary. Another Decisive Negative Vote -------------- ¶2. (U) Two months to the day after the Senate voted the government of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis out of office (Ref C),and one month to the day after the Chamber of Deputies rejected President Preval's first candidate to succeed him (Ref B),the Chamber of Deputies roundly rejected Preval's second PM nominee, Robert Manuel. The vote was a lopsided 57 against, 22 for, and 6 abstentions. The debate in the Chamber zeroed in on the question of Manuel's eligibility based on article 157 of Haiti's constitution, which requires, inter alia, that a Prime Minister 1) be Haitian ''by origin'' and never have renounced his/her nationality, 2) own property in Haiti or exercise a profession there, and 3) have resided in Haiti for five consecutive years (Note: it is ambiguous whether this residency must be the immediately preceding five years. End Note.) Deputies focused on Manuel's absence from Haiti 1999-2005 as an ipso facto disqualification. Others pointed out that he had registered to vote in Haiti only weeks before Preval nominated him for PM; that property he claimed was his was registered in his parents' name; and that his name appeared differently on various personal documents he submitted. ¶3. (C) The arguments of the rejectionists were less flimsy than the dispute over the legal name of Ericq Pierre highlighted by his opponents in May (Ref B). However this problem could have been overcome had the political will existed to put in place a new government. Before the vote, Manuel argued to the Ambassador that the Chamber should consider his six-year absence from Haiti to have been exile under duress, caused by threats to his life arising from his service to the government of then President Preval. Deputies would have none of that however. While Haiti's constitution does not recognize exile, deputies could have easily cited the duress factor and approved him. Deputies Flex Muscles, Seek More Respect -------------- ¶4. (C) Leaders in Lespwa, Fanmi Lavalas, Fusion, OPL and PORT AU PR 00000865 002 OF 003 other parties expressed support for Manuel, but with party discipline close to zero, they were unable to enforce their will on many deputies. The main center of gravity in the Chamber of Deputies for the moment is the 53-member ad hoc grouping called the ''Coalition of Progressive Parliamentarians,'' (CPP). This group mobilized the May 12 vote against Ericq Pierre and did the same against Bob Manuel. The CPP contains deputies from many parties, including a majority of Lespwa deputies. It stands for no particular policies or principles, however. With a majority of the Chamber's 99 members in its ranks, the group has insisted that the President deal with them on the choice of Prime Minister and on major policy decisions. Deputies from Lespwa, the majority of who have joined the CPP, have repeatedly told Embassy Poloffs they resent Preval's abandonment of the Lespwa grouping after he rode that coalition to victory in the Presidential election. They also resent his continuing refusal to consult with them. Deputies from other parties share similar sentiments about the President's high-handed approach to Parliament. While the CPP is a fragile agglomeration, it for now remains united around the demand that the President confers with them more seriously on the choice of Prime Minister. ¶5. (C) The President told the Ambassador June 13 that the CPP's conditions for confirming Manuel were Presidential promises of projects in their constituencies and appointments in the cabinet and in the ministries. Preval adamantly refuses to condition his Prime Minister nomination on this kind of horse-trading. That is the job of the Prime Minister once he is confirmed and begins to form a cabinet. Preval told the Ambassador that he will nominate another PM in the next day or two, which will force Parliament to be accountable by letting it take the heat if his nominee is voted down again. Comment: Preval Pushed His Luck with Manuel -------------- ¶6. (C) When Manuel's name was floated, leading parliamentarians, including Senate President Kely Bastien, told the President and the Ambassador he would be very difficult to confirm. Manuel is little known by the public, and is known but not liked in legislative circles. Even close Preval friends questioned the nomination. Preval went ahead and nominated him anyway. The President consulted with parliament more than during the Ericq Pierre nomination, including meeting with CPP representatives, but apparently did not cajole deputies seriously to vote for Manuel. These meetings fell far short of the co-determining role most parliamentarians believe they deserve in the PM selection process. Preval's assertion that deputies demanded material and political pork also rings true. It echoes Ericq Pierre's public comments after his rejection that he had been bombarded by parliamentarians' requests for posts and favors as a condition of support (Ref A). Yet President Preval is unlearning his habit of disdain for the legislature all too slowly. We don't sense most senators and deputies are sensitive to pressue over the continuing political impasse. Manuel' protest to the Ambassador June 11 that the Parliment should argue his case on political principle rather than pretext missed the point: The CPP isabout perks, not policy. In the next go-around,Preval will be well-advised to get into the weed with individual senators and deputies and pre-neotiate a PM candidate. Whether he will do so isquestionable. ¶7. (C) Comment continued: Somepolitical leaders are worried about the dangers reated by the rejection of the second PM candidae. Haiti is now entering its third month withut a legitimate government. Senator Joseph Lambert and Fusion Spokesman Micha Gaillard, without the slightest sense of tongue in cheek, both publicly called the vote ''a victory for democracy.'' However, party leaders such as Gaillard and OPL President Edgar Leblanc say that Manuel's rejection carries dangers for Haiti's political future. Ministries are running short of funds for salaries. Prospects for Senate elections continue to recede. Critical international accords are pending: a revised IMF agreement imposing terms for Haiti PORT AU PR 00000865 003 OF 003 cannot be concluded. Preval's Presidency is being weakened as a protracted legislative-executive standoff looms. SANDERSON