Haiti president to announce new government after parliament dissolved

17 January 2015 - 12:42 By REUTERS
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Haitian President Michel Martelly announced plans on Friday to form a consensus government within the next 48 hours in a major speech to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Martelly urged anti-government demonstrators to maintain order as he seeks to steer the country toward new elections despite the dissolution of parliament earlier this week.

Speaking before an audience of political leaders and the foreign diplomatic corps, Martelly said he would swear in a new prime minister later on Friday before using his executive authority to appoint a cabinet and a new electoral authority.

"The weakness of our institutions and in particular the failure of the ... legislature, cannot and should not last. It is urgent to correct these deficiencies as soon as possible because the big loser in this crisis remains our Haitian nation," Martelly said.

Under normal circumstances, the prime minister and the electoral authority would have to be ratified by parliament.

Haiti has not held legislative or municipal elections for three years, and the lack of a working parliament effectively leaves Martelly to rule by executive authority.

As he announced last month, Martelly said he would install former Port-au-Prince Mayor Evans Paul as prime minister, with the composition of the new government to be announced over the weekend.

For months Martelly battled opposition senators over an electoral law required before any vote can take place and recognized on Friday that he had failed to hold elections, municipal or legislative since he assumed power in May 2011.

"Today, as president of all Haitians, I take the responsibility for this situation," he said.

Some of his opponents have taken to the streets to protest poverty, corruption and what they consider his autocratic rule. Martelly invited them to join the national dialogue he started in recent weeks with political parties.

"I recognize the right of all those who have chosen the path of peaceful demonstrations to express their demands and frustrations," he said.

Adding a touch of political mystery to his speech, Martelly said he would encourage a major discussion over Haiti's constitution, including "necessary amendments," but did not elaborate.

He stressed he had no intention of changing the constitution to seek re-election, which is currently banned.

"To avoid any misunderstanding about the motivations behind this initiative, I want to emphasize clearly and loudly, that I will respect Article 134.3 of the Constitution that prevents a president to succeed himself and in no case will I be a candidate in the next election," he said.

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