Controversy continues over Prime Minster appointment
The Tet Kale Haitian Party (PHTK) political party of former president Michel Martelly has criticized Interim President Jocelerme Privert over his selection of a prime minister Fritz Jean, saying that it was done in violation of the February 6 agreement.
Leaders of the PHTK told a news conference that Privert’s decision to appoint Jean, a fellow member of his own party as the new provisional prime minister, was in violation of the agreement and could deepen the country’s long-standing political crisis.
“The decision of the provisional president Jocelerme Privert to unilaterally name as prime minister Fitz Jean is a violation of the February 6 agreement with the former President Martelly and the two branches of parliament,” said PHTK strategic adviser Guichard Dore. He told reporters “we are dealing with a monocular power.”
Last weekend, former prime minister Evans Paul also accused Privert of being “in flagrant violation of the political agreement” adding that the appointment of Jean, a US-educated economist and former Central Bank governor, was not in conformity with the agreement signed hours before Martelly’s departure.
Paul in his letter warned Privert that “your actions may complicate, or even compromise, the search for political stability proper to contribute to social peace and a return to normal functioning of republican institutions.” He said that the agreement provides for the interim president to “consult with the Presidents of the two Houses of Parliament around the choice of a Prime Minister.”
Paul said that the consultation did “not take place due to the fact that the honorable senators of the Republic have not yet provided their Assembly with a President following your resignation.”
The PHTK said that while it had already made compromises, which include Martelly accepting to leave office on February 7, it was expecting the other political parties to “behave accordingly.” The PHTK, along with its allies including Konvansyon Inite Demokratik, Paul, and Ayiti Un Aksyon, of Youri Latortue, boycotted the ceremony where Jean took the oath of office last weekend. President of the House of Representatives, Cholzer Chaney, has urged representatives not to ratify his appointment.
