Haiti took a leap backwards of approximately two centuries by, once again, naming a "Parallel President." As the result of contested legislative and presidential elections, a coalition among Haiti's political opposition parties named Gerard Gourgue "Parallel President" alongside Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the elected president. In an atmosphere of reciprocal non-recognition, their respective partisans have begun to fight one another in a way that announces the coming civil war if an entente is not negotiated.
In 1807, just three years after Haiti's independence, Henri Christophe was elected president ruling over the North, while Alexandre Petion was concurrently ruling over the South and West, including Port-au-Prince. Back then, just like today, the political class was not able to reach the consensus necessary to govern the country. Today this task is rendered more arduous with the passage of time and the accumulation of unresolved issues and sources of conflicts. A chronic state of denial of justice and a zero-sum power struggle have not given any chance to nation-building.
Haiti became independent with the motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." While liberty has been achieved, fraternity and equality remain elusive until today, and play a significant role in the societal stalemate of, at least 197 years. The present Haitian leadership needs to honor the ideals of independence, namely, liberty, equality and fraternity. No one is free in the context of fraternal enmity and inequality. No one is free when liberty is interpreted as laissez-faire and anarchy.
The present government, as well as the opposition, must re-examine its purpose and mission, and ask whether Haiti and the people deserve such an abysmal fate. Friends of Haiti (including the United States, France, Canada, Venezuela, and Argentina among others) should engage the Haitian leadership constructively in a way that assures the satisfaction of mutual interests, and at last, the take-off of Haiti as a country. Direct foreign investment in a reorganized Haitian economy would go a long way toward alleviating economic and social ills. When "investment follows the flag," economic development and prosperity will usher social stability and progress. This is possible only if anarchy is replaced by order and stability. The Haitian leadership has to assure the latter. The other friends of Haiti, the people of the world, from all walks of life, should rally with the Haitian people in the struggle for a better day.
Haiti needs to find its unity and a new brand of leadership.
Joseph Marcel-Saint Louis is a graduate student at the Fletcher School and founder/president of the International Haitian Foundation and Friendship Society.
