Technocrat to get PM post (Haiti)

[struggle4progress]

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
[e-mail]

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- The Haitian Senate unanimously approved a longtime technocrat as prime minister Friday, hoping that a man with long ties to Haiti's political power brokers and the international community can lead this nation through its fifth change of cabinets in five years.

Planning Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is a political survivor who has held different jobs with at least 10 different administrations, including the military junta, both presidential terms of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, both terms of President René Préval and the interim government that came to power following Aristide's 2004 ouster.

He says he's managed to keep his name clean by keeping his head down, sticking to the task at hand and knowing who he answers to ...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321131.html



Haitian Prime Minister Ousted by Senate
AMID MURKY CIRCUMSTANCES, PRIME MINISTER MICHELE PIERRE-LOUIS OUSTED
by Kim Ive

Haiti's Senate dismissed Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 at half past midnight. The vote came after a raucous debate that began at about 1:00 p.m. the day before. Senators opposed to Pierre-Louis' dismissal - Rudy Hériveaux, Youri Latortue, Evaliere Beauplan, Edmonde Supplice Beauzile and Andris Riché, among others - stormed out of the Senate chamber.

The remaining senators voted to remove the Pierre-Louis' government by a vote of 18 in favor with one abstention. Most of the remaining 10 senators claim that the vote was "illegal" and plagued by procedural irregularities ...

After the Senate issued its summons and word of the impending ouster spread through alarmed diplomatic circles, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Préval on Oct. 23. A State Department spokeswoman would not give details of the call but told the Associated Press: "We have made it known to the Haitian government that the perception of instability could be very damaging to Haiti at this time."

Clearly, the U.S. and Europe liked working with Pierre-Louis, formerly the head of a large NGO heavily funded by billionaire financier George Soros. "Clinton spoke of her concerns and reiterated U.S. support for Pierre-Louis, according to several sources privy to the conversation," the Herald reported. "Préval, in turn, told Clinton that he was not behind the move to oust Pierre-Louis and has no control over the lawmakers" ...

http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/4999-haitian-prime-minister-ousted-by-senate.html