Context
Over the past few months I have found myself
engaging in many discussions, debates and arguments with friends over Haiti’s
current political crisis especially as it relates to the elections. More
than 10 years since the intervention of the United Nations through MINUSTAH and
almost $9 billion dollars spent, Haiti is still unable to hold free and fair
elections.
Indeed, four years after President Martelly’s election under conditions, which
the former Executive Director and now President of the Provisional Electoral
Council claim were fraudulent, we are back to where we have always been.
In fact, Haiti has not been able to hold the constitutionally mandated
elections for any of the vacant electoral posts in the past five years.
And the current elections face the same challenges as every other ones we’ve
tried. Yet, despite these lackluster results, no one has stopped to
question why we have not been able to hold free and fair elections despite
being under UN protectorate.
Given this history, it is more than evident that the country is simply not
ready – for elections or the democratic model that is being imposed.
Indeed, we have more pressing issues to resolve but nonetheless the entire
International Community (IC) working through the “Core Group” has made
elections its primary policy objective in its engagement in Haiti.
In truth, the IC’s fixation with elections has nothing to do with Haiti or the
needs of Haitians but instead is a way to cover its own policy and political
failures – a more cynic analysis might conclude these perceived failures as the
successful implementation of a plan to maintain domination over one of
the first black republic.
The postponement of the current elections offers
Haitians an opportunity to reflect on what’s been achieved and what remains to
be done. I believe that this time we Haitians should be given the
opportunity to identify and tackle our problems on our own. Indeed,
it is an opportunity to “reset the clock” and engage the public in a dialogue
on the main challenges, which are essentially about modernizing the economy,
strengthening our system of governance and agreeing to abide by the rule of
law. We need a more focused approach to target our own resources –
human and financial capital – on an ambitious agenda of inclusion of the
invisible majority, which include the marginalized urban and rural poor.
As I reflect on our discussions, I have noticed
that my friends and I are in fact arguing about very different things.
For me, while the elections provide a particular opening for the discussions,
they are insignificant relative to the larger debate we need to have as a
nation. For the other side, the argument in support of the elections tend
focus on two points: (1) the elections are an essential part of the
democratic process resulting in a stronger democratic state; and (2) in the
current context they –the elections-- are necessary as a way to regain or
maintain social, political order and economic stability. As a result, we
spend all of our energy trying to find potential solutions to salvage these
deeply flawed elections in the hope that once they are over, we will have
legitimate leaders who would hopefully work to resolve the challenges facing
our nation. And while it is easy to find some solace in this “solution,”
such a focus is intellectually lazy and even parochial to the real needs of our
people. As Georges Anglade put it more than 20 years ago in a Fordham
International Law Journal’s article titled “Rules, Risks, and Rifts in the
Transition to Democracy in Haiti”:
Although the middle
class in Haiti and around the world talk incessantly of Haiti's problems, they
go to great lengths to avoid confronting the real issues.
The premise that we must have elections under
any conditions is erroneous and cynical. The truth is that it shuts down
any debate about the fundamental problems and limits our ability to imagine a
society of our own making and in our own image. In sum, this premise robs
us of the opportunity to experiment and develop our own form of democracy,
which is adapted to our culture. Moreover, it leaves the opportunity for
the international community to impose its own model and disregarding all that
could be viewed be as imaginative and endogenous. This seemingly arbitrary
focus stops us from identifying and tackling the root causes of our
problems. Instead, by applying an exogenous model, we work to legitimize
the international community’s continued stranglehold on all aspect of our
lives. To be clear, the IC is not the reason we are in this place but its
engagement surely helps to keep us there.
Socio-economic challenges
After 215 years of independence, Haiti is still
at a critical formative developmental stage. Today, all the key
indicators are flashing red: the economy which needs to grow by double digits
to keep up is growing at a slow pace of 2.7 percent; GDP growth is at 1.7
percent from an all-time high of 5.5 percent in 2011; the government’s debt is
at all time high of 26.70 percent of GDP; our currency is officially exchanging
at 58 Gourdes to 1 US dollar in 2015 and as high as 60 to 1 unofficially from a
low of 41 Gourde to 1 US dollar in 2012; inflation is currently at 12 percent
(Dec. 2015) from a low of zero (0) percent during the same period in 2009 ;
unemployment is over 40 percent and if we add underemployment it is closer to
70 percent. At the same time, our population grew from 4.7 million in
1970 to 7.8 million in 1995 to 10.4 million today. Additionally, the
Petrocaribe funds, which were used to finance most of the government’s
post-earthquake reconstruction and development programs, have essentially dried
up. The international community which funds over 50 percent of our budget
is expected to reduce its donation. Lastly, the remittance sent by Haitians
in the diaspora is the country’s primary source of revenue and foreign
exchange, equaling nearly 20% of GDP. However, as the 80’s
generation of diaspora members begin to retire, it is not clear that their
children who have integrated their parents’ adopted countries will have the
same attachment to Haiti and continue to send remittances at the same levels.
The expected reduction in remittances will put the final nail in the coffin of
the Haitian economy.
A recent report which was prepared by the
Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) noted that
“real per capita income has fallen by 50% since the early 1980s; the
degradation of the country’s natural resources has continued unabated
(deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, urban contamination); the
capacity of the State to fulfill its functions in the provision of social
services, security, the rule of law and the development of infrastructure has
been seriously eroded; and most social indicators show a further decline.”
These indicators show the urgency to act and
more than anything they make the case for the necessity to make a radical break
from the past 215 years. As summarized by one important international
observer in the ECLAC report, “dysfunctional institutions, poor and corrupt
governance, lack of transparency and pervasive crime have exacerbated economic
and social instability [in Haiti] for the last decade.” In other words,
the solutions to the very critical short and long-term challenges are not
elections. Instead, they are rooted in real structural challenges that
require fundamental changes. The work must start at the beginning and
that is with a new vision of what it means to be Haitian, a common project or
set of projects to create the glue and a redefinition of our governance model
to create trust among each other and in our institutions.
Nationhood
As I mentioned above, the international
community has made the elections the most important milestone in its
cooperation strategy. The argument is that once we have achieved
political stability we can begin to focus on the economy. In fact, I
argue that in any context but particularly in the Haitian one, elections are
not the best mechanisms to build trust. Worst, given the competing urgent
needs of the country the elections do not offer Haitians the opportunity to
have a conversation on the fundamentals issues for the next 50 to 100 years in
order to build the nation-state.
It is important to note that I make a clear
delineation between the country of Haiti, which we find in the world map and
the state which implies sovereignty. By every objective measure, we
cannot call Haiti a sovereign state. Using the definition of French
historian Ernest Renans, we would be hard pressed to call ourselves a
nation. For Renans:
A nation is a soul, a
spiritual principle. Two things, which, in truth, are really one, constitute
this soul, this spiritual principle. One is in the past, the other in the
present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories; the
other is the present-day consent, the desire to live together, the will to
continue to value the undivided heritage one has received.... To have the glory
of the past in common, a shared will in the present; to have done great deeds
together, and want to do more of them, are the essential conditions for the
constitution of a people....One loves the house which one has built and passes
on.
From that perspective, it is easy to conclude
that Haiti is still struggling with the concept of nationhood. This
struggle becomes even harder to overcome as the so-called economic elite bears
no resemblance nor share any common interest nor ideal with the masses.
Further, as borders get erased virtually, young Haitians find and emulate the
styles and mores of western cultures, particularly American culture, which is
not adapted for our social and economic condition. The issues we must
resolve about about shared values, a common vision around which to rally and a
common project for which to sacrifice. These issues are particularly
significant for our economic elites because they hold so much influence over the
political class who in turn affect everything and everyone else.
Transformation
The elections are an imperfect entry point for a
debate of such magnitude and significance for our nation because they
–elections— are essentially about conflicts and highlighting differences in
order to rally one’s tribe. It is a winner take all endeavor of my side
against your side. That is the way of politics worldwide and more so in
Haiti because of the scarcity of resources and the paucity of opportunities.
Indeed, for many of the actors, politic is purely about economic
survival. It is not about the ideals of service and public policy but
instead it is about being on the side of power to ensure access and
opportunity.
After reading, analyzing and thinking about the
state of our nation, I approach any political discussion with some observable
hypotheses. First, there is no glue or common project or
broad vision that binds us together. Strong societies are built through
the active participation of their citizens and today the majority of the
population is invisible and excluded. Beyond the projects, a nation needs
to have a sort of spiritual and cultural glue and more importantly, shared
values.
We, Haitians, hold nothing dear or sacred.
There exists no glue or link between the ruled and the rulers. The elite
lives glass houses; what's left of the middle class is running from its roots
and attempting to maintain what little it has. The poor is disregarded.
We all walk past each other as strangers in a dark and clouded night
where even life holds little value. Second, the state is weak
therefore its governance inevitably leads to systemic corruption, which erodes
confidence and further weakens the state’s authority. The evils of
corruption and impunity rob all of us of our humanity and worst, of our
dignity. Third, the Haitian citizen does not know his role (rights
and responsibility) nor does he have any structural mean to engage with or keep
a check on the power of the state.
These three issues are not the whole of Haiti’s
complicated and complex socio-political and economic problems. However,
they are fundamental and must be resolved before Haiti can get on the right
path. The question then is how to tackle these challenges. In the
current context the cancellation of the current charade masked as elections can
serve to spark the overdue national dialogue. Indeed, I believe that
Anglade’s words ring truer today than they did 20 more years ago.
The current crisis of
thinking, in which dozens of contributors have participated since the 1970s, is
a result of a coalition of local interests which has ferociously opposed
recognizing the fact that Haiti is a country of peasants. Their project is to
build a country for the five percent capable of participating in the
international market. Nothing is said of the other ninety-five percent of
Haitians. This policy will immediately lead to instability and waves of
migration.
The idea that we could simply have elections and
then build on what currently exists without a re-appropriation of what makes us
Haitian, is like knowingly building a house on a compromised foundation.
The house will be unstable and inevitably crumble. Those who argue that
the elections must go on may win the day but we will find ourselves in a worst
place five years from now. Instead, I believe firmly that we need a
national movement that both captures the ideal of the nation and inform the
formal structures of the state. This process would offer an opportunity for
Haitians to tackle the fundamental questions about our identity and exorcise
the demons that have been haunting us since our founding.
Under “normal” circumstances, Haitians should
have been able to call upon their political and economic elites to play a
leadership role in helping to navigate this national conversation.
However, today’s political actors are mostly corrupted by an economic elite
that has no real tie to the people and by extension the nation and its
future. Therefore, the task falls on the remaining middle class which
includes the small sliver of an intellectual elite as well the small minority
of professionals who have nowhere to go and everything to lose.
Conclusion
Our social fabric is in shred and I believe
foremost in the need to weave it back together. Our people have nothing
in common except for poverty, which breeds extreme individualism. There
isn’t a shared vision or a common project around which to mobilize our
citizens.
The international community has failed in Haiti but
we, Haitians, are paying the price. We have been forced into a process
for which we are not ready. The current elections are not about democracy
as much as they are a validation of an occupation that has cost nearly $9
billion dollars and thousands of Haitian lives lost to the cholera epidemic
brought by UN soldiers.
While a lot of energy is being spent and ink
spilled on finalizing the elections, I believe that this energy would be better
spent building a new foundation for Haitian society. I believe it is past
the time for us to stop, take stock of where we are as a nation and hold a
dialogue on who, what and where we want to be as a people. Given the
competitive nature of elections, they are not the ideal vehicle to engage the
nation in a dialogue. However, by cancelling them, we would have an
opportunity to engage in deeper reflections on our future.
I believe that this conversation and reflection
has to be a search for a new cultural aesthetic—a new Haitian for a new
Haiti. It is also a struggle against the deviations of the ruling class
—Western or local. To that end, we need to question and rethink the
very core of how our society is organized with a reaffirmation of the concept
of justice – social, political and economic. We need to change the
perception of the state from one of extraction to service. The
middle class and remaining intellectual elite must take its rightful leadership
role in steering the nation in a dialogue that will results in a new vision, a
shared project and common purpose.
