Hunger Strike - Haiti Observer Blog

Lower House Deputy, Arnel Belizaire, is taking his dissatisfaction with the government of Haiti to extremes. After physically assaulting Prime Minister (PM) Lamothe's representative, parliamentarian Phelito Doran, Belizaire was suspended from Parliament for two months and his wages cut by 50%.

Undeterred, he has begun a hunger strike to protest the illegitimacy of the Judiciary Superior Council President, Me Anel Alexis Joseph, whose appointment Belizaire contends poses a conflict of interest. Joseph is an intimate of P.M. Lamothe, and Belizaire believes Joseph is unduly influenced by Lamothe's political agenda.

To up the ante, Belizaire has barricaded himself in a Lower House meeting room, bringing with him a mattress, bedding, and a gun to send a message to Parliament ". . . to stop condoning the violations of the Constitution . . ." He is also demanding political prisoners be set free and wants an accounting of how Parliament is spending funds allocated to it through the United States Agency for International Development.

Read more →