Laurent Lamothe - Haiti Observer Blog

Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe recently made his love life public, announcing that he shares a relationship with the Czech supermodel, Petra Nemcova.

Premye Minis Laurent Lamothe dènyèman fè konnin Li renmin avek Petra Nemcova.

Now it's no longer a rumor. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe is now dating Haiti's Honorary Consul to the Czech Republic and supermodel Petra Nemcova. The Associated Press reported that Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and Petra Nemcova had been dating for months. It only became more obvious recently then the two were spotted at the ceremonies of the Association of Caribbean States 5th summit that took place in Petion-Ville, Haiti

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U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro, lifted the ban - a controversial decision - she imposed on Joseph, a Haitian-American journalist. Leo Joseph, who owns Haiti Observateur, was banned from writing on Laurent Lamothe and South Florida based businessman Patrice Baker. Joseph was prohibited by Ungaro from writing on political, personal and professional life of either man after Joseph was sued by Lamothe and Baker on account of publishing malicious and false reports about the role played by Lamothe in selling a telecommunications company.

Back tracking on the ruling, Judge Ursula Ungaro lifted the ban on Joseph in a mea culpa in three parts and thereby granted the First Amendment rights to Joseph. Scott Ponce, the attorney of Leo Joseph, said that this ruling is favorable to all. Scott said, 'T'he First Amendment says you can't have an order prohibiting you from speaking on a subject. It was an important ruling to get the prior restraint set aside.'

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Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe continued the recent spate of travel for Government Officials and Ministers, as they seek international aid and investment to support Haiti's struggling economy. Serving in his stead was Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin, who acted as Prime Minister until Lamothe returned.

A day after President Michel Martelly left the island, the Prime Minister left for the West African nation of the Ivory Coast to seek integration for Haiti into the African Union; his office's official statement being that he would be discussing 'potential cooperation between the two countries'. This came after a busy month spent visiting other Caribbean Islands, South America and the United States.

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Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe won what, to some, was an unsurprising victory in his libel suit against New York based website Haiti Observateur. In two articles published in August of 2012 the website, through its reporter Leo Joseph, extended theories about the prime minister and his business partner Patrice Baker's role in the sale of the telecommunications company Haitel that U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro has now declared to be false and malicious.

The articles posited that the company, which shut down after an inability to pay its debts, was bought by the Haitian government in a deal brokered by Lamothe in which he fixed its sale price of $25 million, and positioned himself to receive, what they described as, the 'lion's share' of the profit. Upon noting the libelous nature of the articles Lamothe and Baker filed a lawsuit in September 2012, citing the damage done to their political and business profiles after the implications of corruption and conspiracy made by Joseph and the newspaper which has reported its weekly circulation within the Haitian Diaspora to reach 75,000.

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The MOH community in Haiti will be provided with solar street lights and twenty fours electricity within six months time, as promised by Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. At Port-au-Prince, he promised that electricity distribution would be made for all, twenty four hours of the day.

As this really possible?

Strengthening The Electrical Sector

To achieve this, the energy sector, which has been one of the major concerns for the Haitian population, since ages, would be strengthened. The Prime Minister of Haiti had stated that the EDH or the Electricity of Haiti would supply eighteen hours of electricity and this promise was kept.

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The Haitian Prime Minister heads the country's government and shares executive powers with the head of state. The holder of the Prime Minister post is appointed by the incumbent president and gets approval from the National assembly.

The Prime Minister has the responsibility of law enforcement vested upon him and works alongside the president to ensure national defense.

Previous Haitian Prime Ministers:

February 9, 1988 - June 20, 1988 - Martial Célestin

June 20, 1988 - February 13, 1991 - Post abolished

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The Haitian government has finalized on a cabinet reshuffle following pressure on President Michael Martelly.

The reshuffle is the third during the 20 months reign of Martelly and the 2nd in 5 months. There have been claims that the current government has been unstable due to a non-performing cabinet.

The Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe informed the public about the planned reshuffle via his twitter account on Tuesday.

The reshuffle comes after several ministers resigned from their ministerial positions.

The swearing in of the new cabinet is scheduled to happen this Wednesday at around 10.00 am before the Prime Minister leaves the country for Devo. Among the ministers who were retained during the ministers shakeup include; the minister in charge of public health and his counterpart in tourism.

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The actions of the members of the Parliamentarians for Institutional Strengthening (PRI) during the opening of a Parliamentary session did not sit well with officials. It can be recalled that PRI officials booed and gave out hostile remarks when Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe opened the parliamentary session. The reported reaction prevented Lamothe from doing the traditional reading of the balance sheet. PRI members reportedly made such actions because of Lamothe's failure to respond to the bloc's invitations and convocations and distribute the 2012-2013 budget.

The PRI's actions were condemned by Ralph Theano, the minister in charge of relations with Parliament. He said that the PRI members were a shame to the Parliament and their actions are a crime against the nation. Theano also defended Lamothe, saying that it was not the prime minister's fault that the budget was not yet allocated. The minister added that in other countries, parliamentarians like the PRI members will be asked to step down from their posts if they did something like that.

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After so many speculations. After so many names mentioned to be on the list of termination in the Government of Laurent Lamothe, the decision has been made. After being in power for just over a year and a half. The Martelly presidency obviously has not been working to the satisfaction of the president.

As a result, some heads have to roll!

Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe gave the news about the reshuffling of his ministerial Cabinet via Twitter. The new members of his cabinet include:

Bernice Fidelia who replaces Daniel Supplice as minister for Haitians Living Abroad. She recently occupied the position of liaison with the Haitian diaspora.

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Laurent Lamothe, Haiti's Prime Minister, has become increasingly unpopular in Parliament. On January 8th, 2013, Lamothe attempted to read the balance sheet of Haiti's budget for 2012 and present the proposed budget for 2013, before an assembly of Parliament. Among those present were all ministries of the government of Haiti, the diplomatic staff, and other government officials.

As Lamothe began his budget presentation, an outburst of hostilities erupted from a minority partisan group, Parliamentarians for Institutional Strengthening (PRI). They interfered with Lamothe's presentation, ringing bells, blowing police whistles, and heckling him. Unable to continue, he stepped away from the deafening clamor in the legislative chambers, and submitted the budgets directly to the Office of the National Assembly (ONA). He declared he was fulfilling "the requirements of the Constitution" by doing so.

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