A continent away from the millions of Haitians voting on Tuesday, deposed president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is settling into quiet exile in South Africa, keeping mum about the elections in his troubled Caribbean country.
Aristide last June said he was ready to return to Haiti at the appropriate time as he lobbied African governments for support for his claim that he was driven from office under United States and French pressure.
But the 52-year-old former president who fled Haiti in February 2004 amid a popular revolt made no public statements about the fate of his nation in the run-up to the election.
He refused an interview request to discuss developments in Haiti.
”It’s not going to happen now,” his private secretary Sandy Ramnaidoo told Agence France-Presse last week.
Aristide’s media appearances have all been organised by the South African foreign affairs department. ”That is still the case,” said Ramnaidoo.
Since he arrived to a red-carpet welcome in South Africa in May 2004, Aristide, his wife and two daughters have moved into a government-provided home in Pretoria. The government also provides him with security and a vehicle.
Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma defended the decision to grant the Haitian leader refuge in the face of criticism from the opposition, which said Aristide was a despot with blood on his hands.
The government countered that it was sheltering him with the approval of the government of France and the United States, the African Union and Caricom, the Caribbean Community.
”Everyone is working towards Haiti becoming a normal country. We have faith that things will stabilise in Haiti and he will be able to go back,” Dlamini Zuma said shortly after Aristide’s arrival.
Aristide swept to power in Haiti in 1990, only to be overthrown in a coup eight months later. With backing from the United States, he returned to power in 1994 but fell out of favour with Washington amid claims of vote-rigging in the 2000 elections.
Face with an armed insurrection and large street protests, Aristide bowed to pressure from the United States and France and fled Haiti on February 29, 2004.
The former Catholic priest has said during interviews and press conferences that he spends his time in South Africa writing his memoirs and staying abreast of developments in Haiti.
”Far from home, I am living here, but always in deep communion with my people,” Aristide said in an interview after arriving in South Africa.
Aristide, who has written seven books, said more than a year ago he had nearly completed writing an account of his removal from Haiti.
He has repeatedly blamed the US and French governments for being complicit in what he characterises as a kidnapping. Both he and his wife Mildred work as researchers at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, which claims to be the world’s largest distance learning university.
Aristide is regularly seen at national day celebrations of African countries. For the most part, he keeps a low profile.
The African Union maintains its desire to assist in mediating a solution in Haiti, which it regards as a member of the African diaspora.
Speaking on a platform in Pretoria last year with President Thabo Mbeki and Aristide, African Union commission President Alpha Oumar Konare said all the major political players in Haiti wanted the AU to become involved in the troubled island’s transition to peace, stability and democracy.
”Haiti is an African country outside of Africa. The AU wants to help create conditions in which a new government can be democratically elected in Haiti,” said Konare. – Sapa-AFP