HAITIAN POLITICAL SUMMIT TO STOP PRESIDENT PREVAL ELECTORAL COUP by S.Lucas

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HAITIAN POLITICAL SUMMIT TO STOP PRESIDENT PREVAL ELECTORAL COUP BY STANLEY LUCAS

Since 1997, President Preval has masterminded and presided over four electoral coups: one in 1997, two in 2000, and one in 2009. What is clear is that every political crisis in Haiti stems from a fraudulent or rigged election.

It is also clear that President Preval is planning to manipulate the upcoming 2010 elections.

Under the current political climate, rigged and manipulated elections are a certainty.

President Preval has put in place a comprehensive structure to ensure elections go in favor of his party, Inite.

He controls:

• The nine-member CEP (provisional electoral council)
• 10 department electoral bureaus (BEDs)
• 140 municipal electoral bureaus (BECs)
• Municipal and regional delegues, which are presidential representatives
to at the local level possessing executive powers over the regions and
municipalities.

• Police
• Head of services, including ports, airport, water, power and other
state institutions

While there are some good people in each organization, all of these organizations are partisan and under the direct control of the President.

We have learned that Preval has sent money and arms to the delegues so that they may support the BEDs and BECs in their efforts to manipulate the results of the elections.

Their objective is to secure a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate and the Presidency.

This will enable them to amend the constitution for their political purposes and goals.

Whether or not the opposition can field a unique, qualified and electable candidate is completely irrelevant under these circumstances because elections will be a sham, and our fragile, beleaguered country will descend further into chaos.

The opposition must galvanize around this Electoral Coup d'Etat and develop a concrete, actionable and unified approach to promoting a democratic and peaceful transition.

PARTICIPANTS
Participation will be open to all representatives of political parties, candidates (registered and unregistered), civil society groups, and the Haitian Diaspora.

OBJECTIVES
Our overall goal is to promote and secure free and fair elections in Haiti.

We have three main objectives for this summit:

1. Developing the best strategy to counteract the electoral coup

2. Ensuring we are all on the same message points because "In Unity There
is Strength"

3. Identifying and preparing for various transition options

PROPOSED FORMAT & TOPICS
In order to ensure full participation, we recommend that the summit be held concurrently in Haiti and Miami linked via teleconference.

The summit should open with a plenary session linking all the delegates, and then break into panels covering the following topics:

I. Promoting the reorganization of the CEP

• How do we get a non-partisan CEP in place?

• Can we ask or encourage the members to resign?

• Should the various sectors of civil society renounce their CEP
representatives (i.e. they were not appointed by us and therefore do
not represent us)?

II. Civil Disobedience
• How do we best mobilize against the government?

How do we take into
account our personal safety?

• Should we plan public - and peaceful - protests at the national and
local levels?

• What are our key messages?

And how do we disseminate our messages to
protestors?

III. Diaspora Role
• How do the Diaspora best support efforts on the ground?

• Should we be lobbying the US Administration and Congress?

Other
countries?

International organizations?

• Should the Diaspora organize an electoral observation mission

IV. Preparing for Transition Scenarios
• What are the various transition scenarios?

Successfully rigged
elections with Inite majority?

Transitional government?

• How do we prepare for these scenarios?

• How do we ensure that reconstruction efforts are minimally impacted by
the coming political chaos?

V. International Organization
• Will the MINUSTAH act as a rubber stamp for Preval?

• How do we best question their roles?

What platform do we use to
question their roles?

• In the name of stability, will the international community bless flawed
elections?

• Why have they not pressed for any changes to an internationally
recognized partisan electoral authority?

Are they themselves partisan?

Jacqueline Prophete, August 24 2010, 4:33 PM

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