“We’ve got to know who owns the land in this country”

Interview with leader of the Fusion opposition, Serge Gilles.

Opposition leader, Serge Gilles.

© Debra Percival

Serge Gilles is leader of the Fusion des Sociaux Democrates Haitienne (Haitian Social Democratic Fusion Party) with one of the biggest parliamentary representations; 6 out of 30 seats in the Senate and 20 out of 99 in the Chamber of Deputies. Fusion participates in the “coalition” or what Gilles subtly refers to as a “pluralist” government formed following the 2006 elections.With a vote of 2.62 per cent, he was one of the defeated candidates out of 33 who stood in the February 2006 Presidential election which brought President Préval to power.Secretary General of Fusion, Robert Auguste, is currently in charge of the Health Ministry.

Gilles spent 25 years in overseas exile during the period of period of Duvalier dictatorships, returning to Haiti in 1986. On the mid-November day when we met, he was preparing for an afternoon ministerial meeting with the cabinet to which all five opposition leaders had been invited by President Préval to discuss a World Bank evaluation of government. In our meeting in Pétionville, whilst applauding this open consultation, Gilles voiced concern that the current leadership of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis and President Preval had so far fallen short in, “dealing with the major challenges of the past.”

Functioning of the coalition

René Préval has previous experience of running the country. He is a former Prime Minister and also President and is not abusing his position. He understands the fragile state of things. To date, we’ve managed to overcome security problems. The national police which broke up has been set up again, and supported by Minustah, the United Nations’ Stabilisation force for Haiti is doing good work. This pluralist government has brought about political stability. There is some criticism but from people who are not represented in government.Everyone represented has accepted to stay in this government formed by consensus to guarantee the country’s stability and with the help of the international community, make the construction of roads and rehabilitation of public services possible to give the government some peace of mind. This country has many problems. On the less positive side, after two years the government has not managed to overcome the major challenges of the past. What I’m telling you, I’ve also told President, René Préval. Our discussions are very frank.

Land reform

First and foremost, we need land reform. We’ve got to know who owns the land in this country. It’s not normal that a country like ours has to import rice. It’s vital to know who land belongs to before launching national production which is the number one challenge. A government that can’t feed its own people is a government with a problem. Land reform means knowing who owns what land. If this happened, the person cultivating it would be a lot more interested in doing so since it would be his or her property.

Lack of credit

The government hasn’t done anything to put credit within the reach of the majority of Haitians. Credit here is prohibitive; it’s not normal. We have to re-capitalise the country. I agree with the government on the need to construct roads because with roads you are also creating a market, but the government also has to get to grips with the issue of increasing output on a national scale.

Fears about neo-liberalism

I feel that the President’s background is very neo-liberal. We are in a world of figures controlled by trade and democracy. If we just sit on the sidelines, we will be gobbled up by international trade governed by big financial capital. We have to move quickly using democratic principles to fix the rules of the game, to control the market through state intervention.

Minustah’s role

Minustah was necessary because after Aristide’s departure, the crises could not be managed. At the time, there was no army and the police were corrupt. The Minustah option wasn’t a bad one.

What we have to do now is to ready ourselves for Minustah’s departure. We have to take advantage of Minustah being here to train the police force and establish another force – some refer to it as a ‘gendarmerie’others a new army - no matter what the name it is needed to patrol ports, airports and borders and to effectively fight the drugs problem.

Weak administration

We have a very weak administration.When you’ve had catastrophes like we’ve had, a very weak administration is left behind. I support the Canadians who’ve invested a lot in training. I would like to see a training school for administration in each department and also two here (the capital, Port-au-Prince).

Corruption in Haiti

You can’t say that the opposition is corrupt, not at all.You can’t say that René Preval is corrupt, this just isn’t the case at all. I know of states that are corrupt from top to bottom. Where there is corruption in Haiti it concerns the drugs trade and a section of the justice system. Préval set up a committee to look into reform of the justice system and the Parliament has just adopted three laws on the independence and a purging of the justice system (laws passed on November 27 2007). There is going to be a training school for judges. All our Parliamentarians backed this reform.

Decentralisation of government

I feel that decentralisation advances democracy but it’s true that we have not yet drawn up a legal framework for decentralisation. Parliamentarians are working to move ahead with this so that the municipal authorities (collectivités territoriales) can take off. The functioning of a municipal authority is not only a matter of finding the funding.

Debra Percival

Back to the Table of Contents.

write a comment





If you can't read the word, click here.
CAPTCHA image for SPAM prevention