BCED Declared Unfounded Charges That Sophia Martelly Held Dual Nationality

On Thursday, May 1, 2015, the office of the Department of Electoral Litigation (BCED) Ouest 1, has delivered its verdict on the legitimacy of the First Lady Sophia St-Rémy Martelly's candidacy to the Senate of the Haitian Republic. The tribunal under the presidency of Wally Désence constituted by Me Merlan Bélabre and of Me Mario Delcy, has announced that the charges framed against the First Lady were found unacceptable as they were groundless to warrant any action against her candidacy and hence rejected. We may remember that some opposition leaders like Dr Louis Gérald Gilles of Fanmi Lavalas, Marie-Denise Claude, Me Tranquilor Mathieu (Unité Patriotique) and the platform JUSTIS, had earlier challenged her candidacy on two main constitutional grounds-- dual citizenship and her involvement with an unsettled public fund.

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As per opposition's allegation, Ms. Martelly was born in New York City on October 9, 1965 and listed as a U.S. citizen on official Haitian government documents filed by her husband President Michel Martelly as late as 2011. Haiti's Constitution does not permit U.S. citizens from running for and holding high public office in Haiti. Furthermore, anyone who had ever renounced (which she did in 1989) own Haitian citizenship can never run an office of the President, Senator or Deputy in Haiti. On April 28, at the Office of Departmental Electoral Contestation (BCED), her lawyers had claimed that she had renounced her citizenship at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince last year and produced a "Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States," purportedly signed on Mar. 31, 2014 by the U.S. Consul General Jay Thomas Smith, showing that Ms. Martelly "voluntarily executed an oath of renunciation of her U.S. citizenship." ... But how could she claim and own her first Haitian passport in the year 2009 other than an act of forgery? Dual citizenship was not permitted in the Haitian constitution until 2011.

In regard to her involvement as the President of the National Commission against Hunger & Malnutrition Public Fund, her lawyers have produced a certificate from the Ministry of Economy and Finance which confirms that she was never involved in the management of any public fund and no specimen signature of her was ever found on any document that could suggest her involvement in any public fund including the fund mentioned by the plaintiffs. However, her opposition still claims that she still holds that unsettled fund of $234 million at her disposal. Because the certificate issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance is not acceptable because as per the statute, she had to submit a "Certificate of Discharge" issued by the Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes, and not by the Ministry of Economy.

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