President Michel Martelly of Haiti - A skilful start

The new Haitian president, Michel Martelly, elected on 20 March, was sworn into office on Saturday 14 May. The very courteous handover of power between the former president, René Préval, and the new one is seen as quite a positive sign, as was the presence of a large contingent of members of the National Assembly, in which Martelly can only rely on the support of three representatives and with which he will have to negotiate. The first plans and measures announced, such as the designation of a businessman and not a politician, Daniel-Gérard Rouzier, as prime minister – which is still to be endorsed by Parliament at the time of going to press - seem to have been quite well received, above all by the country’s backers. 

Despite the scars of the earthquake of January 2010 that still disfigure Port-au-Prince, efforts have been made to smarten up the city to receive the distinguished guests, among whom there were some ten heads of state who had come to attend the inauguration of a head of state elected by an overwhelming majority (67.57%), whose legitimacy is only weakened a little by the low turnout for the elections (25%). 

Martelly’s inauguration speech placed a great deal of emphasis on voluntary endeavour and on the pride of his compatriots, proclaiming that Haiti had suffered enough humiliation, and that now it was time for work and security for the whole population, and justice for those whose aim is to cause chaos: the president declared war on the armed gangs responsible for kidnappings for ransom. A large number of people had got together in a kind of improvised carnival to follow the inauguration ceremony on big screens, though the screens themselves failed to work due to a generalized power cut which could only remind the new president of the weight of the responsibility on his shoulders. 

Only six days after the inauguration, Martelly announced the launch on 15 June of the implementation phase of one of his promises, an 'Education Fund' the aim of which is to provide schooling for 500,000 children, and which is financed by a surcharge of five cents on every overseas telephone call made in Haiti.

Hegel Goutier