PM Manning: Caricom will not overthrow Aristide

CARICOM will not support any action to remove Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power but it will prevent Aristide from amending Haiti’s constitution to extend his stay in power.  This was the firm resolve expressed by Prime Minister Patrick Manning during a news conference at the Red House yesterday, to brief the population on talks between Caricom leaders and members of the Haitian Opposition in the Bahamas earlier this week.

Manning explained that the genesis of these talks were rooted in communications between himself and current Caricom chairman, Jamaican PM PJ Patterson, last December and it was agreed that “time had already run out” as far as Haiti’s deteriorating state of affairs was concerned. He said the Haitian Opposition initially approached the Caricom leaders with skepticism but that perception swiftly changed and outlined certain principles to them regarding to restore peace in Haiti in the shortest possible time.

These principles included the immediate disbanding of all “strong arm groups” in Haiti, law and order being overseen by a competent police force and elections (local government and parliamentary) in the shortest possible time to be overseen by international observers. The Prime Minister said Aristide would help the situation greatly by publicly assuring that he had no desire to extend his presidency by fixing the Haitian Constitution and Bahamian PM Perry Christie will be encouraging him to do so when he (Christie) meets with Aristide on Sunday to outline Caricom’s proposals (which the Haitian Opposition have also agreed to consider). Manning said once consensus was reached on both sides, Caricom would hold Aristide “fully accountable” to making the agreement work and could impose sanctions against him if he failed to do so. However Manning stressed that Caricom was not trying to stage a coup d’etat to remove Aristide nor did it support military intervention in Haiti. The Prime Minister added that Caricom would be involved in a peacekeeping force in Haiti if the situation warranted it and was willing to lobby international agencies to provide financial assistance to Haiti.

Manning said once Christie returns from Haiti, the Caricom leaders will meet ahead of Caricom’s Heads of Government summit in March to discuss the outcome of his trip and the way forward. He said if this Caricom-Haiti initiative fails, the regional body will not give up in its efforts to bring peace to the Caribbean nation. For his own part, Manning said the Haitian situation demonstrates clearly to him that the purpose of any government is to improve the quality of life for its citizens. The Prime Minister said a representatives of the US and Canadian governments sat in on the Bahamas talks and agreed with the position adopted by Caricom.  Last December, US President George W Bush asked Manning if Trinidad and Tobago could play a greater role in resolving the Haitian crisis. Manning said he could not give President Bush’s view on Caricom’s latest initiative but was optimistic that it would achieve its stated objective.