Analyses & Opinions

Is Haiti Backsliding Into Dictatorship?

With President Michel Martelly now ruling by decree, the political crisis in Port-au-Prince has reached a zenith. Can democracy survive in the Western hemisphere's poorest country?

By Peter Granitz, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Dozens of janitors, security guards, and legislative staffers milled about in the makeshift courtyard, a patch of brown-green grass in the middle of a collection of portable buildings that house Haiti's Parliament but look more like stacked shipping cans. In the middle, Haiti's red-and-blue flag flapped at half-staff. The original Parliament had collapsed exactly five years earlier, on Jan. 12, 2010, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the country, killing more than 200,000 people and displacing millions more. This time, the disaster was man-made.

While the staff showed up, few lawmakers bothered. Nobody lingering around the Parliament grounds knew whether the legislative branch had dissolved at midnight the night before, as the constitution dictated, or whether there was still half a day left to broker a deal — between a skeptical opposition and a president newly disposed to compromise — that might save Haiti from the political brink.

The agreement never materialized. Now Haiti, a country with a history of political violence, coups d'état, and dictatorships, is left with a president ruling by decree. At the heart of the political standoff has been a fight over how and when elections will be held. But that's helped to hollow out the government entirely. Political institutions wobble: The Senate is unable to reach quorum because two-thirds of its members' terms have expired. The lower house of Parliament is completely empty. The prime minister, former Port-au-Prince mayor Evans Paul, has not been confirmed by Parliament, nor was the new cabinet he announced late on the night of Jan. 18. The top court lacks a chief justice, after the most recent resigned two weeks ago on the recommendation of a presidential commission as a way to end the political standoff and pave the way for an electoral law.

After three years of fighting and delayed elections, the president and opposition members of the Senate blew the final deadline despite at least 10 months of warning, leaving President Michel Martelly ruling without any checks and balances. The opposition, meanwhile, continues its favorite tactic: sending thousands of angry protesters into the streets.

It's unclear how Martelly will proceed. He failed to organize parliamentary elections in 2011 and 2013 because he and the opposition couldn't agree on the makeup of an electoral council. With his new powers, he could unilaterally decree an electoral law, as he's repeatedly promised, paving the way for overdue parliamentary and municipal elections. Or, as his opponents fear, Martelly could simply dictate new laws and put his cronies in power. At an earthquake memorial on Jan. 12, the president asked the country for calm. "Let's give the country a chance, in the name of all these victims."

The opposition boldly promised hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in the streets across the country, from Cap-Haitien to Port-au-Prince, if the Parliament was allowed to expire and Martelly assumed complete power. So far, they have delivered. In the capital on Saturday, Jan. 17, a few thousand protesters doused tires with gasoline and rum. They marched through traffic downtown, one of the few parts of town with lingering earthquake rubble. Police hurled canisters of tear gas to disperse the crowds. One demonstrator was shot in the leg.

"The majority of the people are not happy. We are not happy with Evans Paul. Evans Paul doesn't make a consensus government," said former Senator Gérald Gilles, an official with the opposition political party Fanmi Lavalas, headed by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Gilles said his party, which calls protests through radio and TV, as well as word of mouth, would only recognize a government that includes Lavalas members.

But the opposition's demands may be bigger than a unity government. Many Martelly opponents hope the people in the streets will weaken the president enough that he'll be forced to resign. "He's corrupt and he must go. If I could throw him out of office I would," said Senator Jean-Baptiste Bien Aimé, one of six opposition senators who abstained from a vote on an electoral law that would have allowed elections to take place and avert the current crisis.

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