Haiti protagonists clinch historic agreement to end political impasse

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HCNN -- Haitian protagonists from different political sides have clinched a historical agreement to end a political impasse which had posed a threat to the holding of crucial elections and the Caribbean country's stability.

At the end of a series of talks among political actors, representatives of more than 50 political parties, the Executive and Legislative branches, signed, on March 14, an agreement to solve differences on the organization of credible legislative and local elections, on governance and constitutional issues.

Haitian President Michel Martelly, who signed the document on behalf of the Executive branch, called the agreement historical and a victory for democracy.

"I am happy to sign this agreement which is historical in the sense that we had never seen Haitian rival political actors gather together, without any international involvement, to discuss and find solutions to our differences, for the common good," Martelly told HCNN.

The parties agreed that Martelly will open the government to opposition parties, that elections will take place by the end of the year and that one third of the nine-member electoral council may be changed by relevant state institutions which had designated them.

The political actors also agreed on the need to bring new amendments to the current constitution, among other things.

"The agreement is a positive achievement and it is historical because it is for the first time such an event has occurred," Sauveur Pierre-Etienne, the leader of the People's Struggle opposition party, told HCNN.

However, three political parties, including the Lavalas Family party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, had withdrawn from the talks because they wanted the departure of the entire government. Aristide's party is also engaged in a movement to try to force President Martelly from power.

Many believe the agreement is likely to isolate political extremists who vow to pursue their wish to make a clean sweep of the country's elected leadership and of current efforts to reinforce institutional development and stability.

The UN, the US, the European Union, Canada and France, among other members of the international community, saluted the agreement, but others harshly attack it on a clause that allows the electoral council to bypass some inapplicable legal provisions, should Parliament fail to modify the existing law.

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SOURCE Haitian-Caribbean News Network (HCNN)