Haiti/U.S. and other Parallels Guy S. Antoine
February 7, 2001At best, the notion of a parallel government seems like an absurdity. At worst, it is a dangerous distraction that may lead the legitimate government of Haiti to default on its obligations to the people of Haiti.
What do Jean-Jacques Dessalines, René Préval, and every Haitian head of state in between have in common? They all spent a lot of energy and scarce resources defending the legitimacy of their government. By comparison, President Bush of the United States can take such legitimacy for granted, in spite of the fact that voters cast several thousand more votes for Al Gore, the former Vice President. Bush lost the popular vote, yet today everyone in the world recognizes this fact of life: George W. "IS" (like it or not) the U.S. President. His opponent, now a mere professor. And life goes on... because, for Republicans and Democrats alike, the economic and institutional stability of their country take precedence over all political considerations.
The Democrats did not proceed to establish a parallel government. In the United States. that would be simply unthinkable. The Supreme Court reached a decision, which may have seemed the right or wrong one, depending on your point of view, your party affiliation, or your ideology. The wisdom of that decision may be forever debatable. However, there is absolutely no doubt on anyone's mind that for the next four years, for better or worse, one will have to deal with "W' should one need to address the President of the United States.
Power in the United States is institutionalized (leave it now to President Bush to deal with tax cuts for his constituency).
In Haiti, on the other hand, there is always the looming threat of a coup d'etat, abetted at times by the Government of the United States, which itself never has to worry about such threat. There is no tolerance in the U.S. for even the thought of it. Ask any of the renegade militiae who at times fancy they can bring down the Federal Government.
So much thought is given by Haitian presidents to consolidate their hold on power, that most of them got consumed by that task. That is cited as one possible explanation for the abject failure of the presidency of Dr. François Duvalier, among many other rationalizations. From the day he assumed power in 1957 to the day he died in 1971, not a day went by without his thinking about how to eliminate the opposition to his regime. In the process, Duvalier forgot he had a whole country to govern. Let us hope we never see this process repeat itself, though some of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's opponents are banking on it.
The highly intellectual (and supposedly righteous) opposition cannot wish away the hard facts about Jean-Bertrand Aristide's popularity among his countrymen, so they have opted to beg for favors from Uncle Sam and, even the ruling political party in the Dominican Republic. This is troubling. Would they not have instead advocated for the Haitian migrants whose rights have been routinely violated by the Dominican Army, with the approval of the party from which they sought logistical support. The thought of those 11 documented murders of Haitian citizens perpetrated last year by the Dominican forces apparently did not cross their minds.
If others can rationalize their way around another coup d'etat, they indeed live in a parallel universe, one for which I have absolutely no use, thank you very much.
How long into the new millennium will the opposition dedicate all of its efforts to an obstruction and destabilization agenda before addressing the real purpose of any opposition party: to offer an earth-bound alternative and a smarter solution to the country's harsh realities. Nothing is to be gained from the continued belittling of the intelligence of a majority of the Haitian people. Whether they were right or wrong, it's their choice, their reality to coach through their own determination, without undue interference from outsiders.
As for those in Haiti who think ill of Haiti's President, this is just fine. It is their democratic right to oppose him. But beware: their common anti-aristidism cannot by itself constitute a political movement. They must clearly define an alternative program so people will finally know just what they stand for. Before the majority jumps on their bandwagon, they must first construct the bandwagon.
And until they do... we opt for the prescriptions of the Constitution of Haiti and for a State of Law. We will support the dominant political force in Haiti and hold it accountable to its constitutional obligations and our ideals of governance and social development. If the ruling party performs positively with tangible results, then it will deserve re-election in 2005. If it does not, it will likely get kicked back to the farm. That's the way it's supposed to work in a democracy... and credibly, for Haiti too!
Am I dreaming? In the other universe, we have a parallel government! Did they hold parallel elections? Will they have a parallel public administration? Will they have a parallel Treasury? Will they have a parallel security force? Will they have parallel responsibilities? Will they have a parallel accountability? Will they send parallel representatives to the United Nations, the Organization of the American States, the U.S. and the Dominican Republic? Shall the parallel governments ever meet? If they do (certainly, a new notion of parallelism), will it be like colliding matter and anti-matter? And would this collision be good for Haiti somehow?
Why not turn the table and restart from scratch? God, isn't that what we have been doing, like forever?
I believe that Jean-Bertrand Aristide will not fall into that trap. I hope that he will have the wisdom to spend his time devising ways to deliver on his electoral promise of food for the hungry and peace of mind for everyone. May God deliver him from the temptation of thinking too much about his enemies!