The Special Coordinator for Haiti at the Department of State, Kenneth Merten did not go by four ways to clearly establish Washington’s position on the 2015 election verification commission that the Haitian Provisional President, Jocelerme Privert intends to set up at the request of several political actors and civil society.
If we are to believe the former American ambassador accredited to Port-au-Prince, this verification commission is inopportune because those who demand such a structure are losers in the last games. “All those who insist on having a verification commission have not won” according to Kenneth Merten who maintains that the United States has strong suspicions about maneuvers to eliminate one or the first two candidates from the first round of the presidential election. 2015.
Brandishing the blocking of financial support to Haiti, Kenneth Merten made it clear that “politicians can make their choice, the United States can also make their choice” while suggesting that Washington wants the process to move forward. “There is work that has been done by the election evaluation commission, we must implement its recommendations and move forward with the electoral process” maintained Kenneth Merten who underlined that in case of refusal of the Privert Administration- Jean Charles to organize the elections as soon as possible, it may be that Washington does not untie the purse strings in favor of Haiti.
The Special Coordinator for Haiti at the State Department, Kenneth Merten who spoke on the Voice of America (VOA) spoke of the need for Haiti to return to the democratic path with a legitimately elected power. “In the hemisphere, there are 36 countries, and there are two that do not have a democratic government, including Haiti,” said Kenneth Merten to illustrate Washington’s concern. “We have already spent 33 million dollars for the conduct of the elections (…), we would like to move forward, but there are conditions” specifies Kenneth Merten.
These recent comments by the Special Coordinator for Haiti at the State Department are likely to irritate opponents of the former “Tèt Kale” regime who swear by the establishment of a commission to verify the elections of August 9 and of October 25, 2015 in the country following accusations of massive fraud that would have marred these games.
