Two years after being spirited out of his troubled Caribbean home, Jean-Bertrand Aristide maintains that his love affair with the Haitian people is as hot as ever.
The former priest, who has been sheltering in South Africa since May 2004, announced this week that he’s going home. He cannot say exactly when. That is being negotiated with his political protégé Rene Garcia Preval, who won the February 2 presidential poll.
Even though Aristide said he wanted nothing to do with that election, he now maintains the vote was for his return.
”There is a love story here,” Aristide said in an interview with the Mail & Guardian this week.
”When we look at the people of Haiti, it’s clear there is a love story. If they love me and express that love for the past 10 years, the way they are dying for me to be back, it’s because there is truth. The love story is linked to truth. The people are not dumb. If you are lying they will smell it. If you are telling the truth they will die for you.”
Aristide’s Lavalas party spurned the elections because its leadership was either jailed, in hiding or in exile. Now, he accepts the outcome of the poll.
”I congratulate the people of Haiti and president-elect Preval because what happened on February 2 was very clear: the people went to vote because they wanted to organise a referendum against my kidnapping in 2004. They said no to the coup, no to the kidnapping. They voted for my return by voting for Preval.
”It was said by the people voting, and it was very clear, they said no to the coup and yes to democracy.”
Was he pleasantly surprised with the outcome?
”The Haitian people are bright. Seventy per cent are illiterate, but they are not dumb. They know what to do. You’re talking about a people who always fought for their dignity.
”Voting for them is a matter of dignity. They don’t accept people through a coup d’état; destroy their votes, because it means destroying their dignity. So fighting democratically for their dignity, they went to vote. That is why they voted for my return.
”So my return is not a matter of one single person. It transcends one single person. It’s a matter of the people whose rights have been so often violated through coups d’état — 35 coups in 200 years of independence, it’s too much. The people of Haiti said we want to move from democratic elections to democratic elections and not from coup to coup.”
Aristide is being consulted on the date and terms of his return. But the matter is really in the hands of Preval and the United Nations, charged with peacekeeping on the island.
France and the United States are also involved. They have misgivings about his return, despite his assertion that he wants to be a teacher rather than a politician.
Aristide retorts: ”I think because they know what democracy means and they talk so often and so much about freedom and democracy they will respect the rights of my country.
”The people in 1990 voted for me as their president. A coup happened in 1991. The same people voted for me in 2000. Another coup happened in February 29 2004. The people again in February 2006 voted for my return. They know about their rights and they expect others to respect those rights.”
His undertaking to stay out of politics and become a teacher is less than rock solid. ”I enjoy teaching. Before being elected twice I was teaching. Now I am at the University of South Africa. Back home I will be investing in education. When I was elected we had 34 public secondary schools in my country. Now we have 138. Which means investing in education was part of my dreams.
”In my country, where we only have 1,5 doctors for every 11 000 people, we founded a university and we had 247 medical students, who were unfortunately chased away from the university when the coup happened.
”So investing in education is one of the best ways to promote human growth. Without human growth you will not have a balanced world. Economic growth is necessary. Human growth is also necessary. Education is part of that.
”Just look at Nelson Mandela. He spent 27 years in jail. When he came out, that was wonderful for him to help his country to move in 1994 from apartheid to democracy. Being a former president he continues to serve his people without being a president. I will continue to serve my people through education.
”In Haiti earlier this month Bishop Desmond Tutu said it reminded him of the old days of apartheid.
”I agree with him because although Haiti was the first black independent country in the world since 1804, today we still have walls of apartheid in Haiti dividing the 1% of the population controlling 51% of the wealth, while the huge majority are living with less than $1 a day.
”So South Africa is an inspiration for many countries, including Haiti, where we can have rich and poor, government and civil society, joining hands in the spirit of Ubuntu and dialogue and justice and building not walls of apartheid anymore but bridges of solidarity. So I am more than happy to keep investing in education.
”If politics has to do with serving the people, you can be elected president and you serve your people. I did that. As you can be a normal citizen and you keep serving your people and I will do that.”
Preval’s mission
Almost a week after he was declared president, Rene Garcia Preval broke his silence on Wednesday, telling the press about his presidential mission, writes Amy Bracken.
In his first speech as president-elect, Preval did not bask in his glory. On the contrary, he emphasised that he could not hold up Haiti by himself. He would need a complete government, and more.
”I want to remind the Haitian people of the limited power of the president … If Parliament is not strong and cohesive, the president can’t respond to all the problems, to all the hopes we see the people expressing,” he said. ”It’s the two chambers that ratify the prime minister, and it’s the prime minister who chooses all the civil servants.”
Preval said he noticed a lack of enthusiasm for the legislative elections. ”I’ll repeat,” he said. ”Go and vote for your legislators.”
Haitians voted for members of Parliament the same day they voted for president, February 7, but a second, run-off round will likely be necessary for every post next month, according to election officials.
Preval said Haiti’s future presidency will have two fundamental missions: first, to build institutions that are provided by the Constitution, such as municipal and national assemblies, which appoint judges. ”The second mission is to create the conditions for private investment to create jobs,” he said. — IPS