Leslie Manigat - Haiti Observer Blog

A call has been issued to the youths of Haiti. By whom has it been made? Former Haitian President and professor Leslie François Manigat is the man responsible for the call that would mobilize the young in Haiti for the purpose of changing the future through politics.

The Rally of Progressive National Democrats (RDNP), represented by current coordinator for National Youth Council of the RDNP, Présumé Montès, wants Haitian youths to join the party, following the bid of the former president and founder of the party. Describing the current course of the country, under the regime of President Michele Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, as a "shipwreck", the party promises to train the young recruits to become capable leaders.

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Born in Gonaives on the 19th of June 1934, Haiti's 12th Prime Minister, Gérard Latortue ascended to the seat with much criticism in the wake of his appointment. For, when he was named as Haiti's Prime Minister on March 12, 2004, Latortue had been absent from the country, living on foreign shores for well over a decade.

After studying in Paris at the Institutes of Economic and Social Development, and Political Sciences, Latortue, at 26, returned to his country of birth and began work as a lawyer and later a professor. A year later, after noting that Haitians had no place to study economics, he co-founded a business and economic study institute in the nation's capital.

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The role of Haitian Prime Minister, as that of Haitian President or any other minister of parliament or politician in the country is one laced with controversy and insecurity. There have been 17 prime ministers for the country since the post's inception in 1988, all with an average shelf life of just more than a year. To tell the story well we must start at the beginning, with Haiti's first selected Prime Minister, Martial Lavaud Célestin.

Célestin was born in Ganthier on October 4, 1913. He studied economics and the law at the Paris Faculty of Law and began his profession, as a lawyer at the ripe old age of 23. He would take his considerable learning into the diplomatic field by 1950, when he was given the post of assistant to the Foreign Affairs Department and, six years later, to the Secretary General.

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Leslie Francois Saint Roc Manigat was the full name of Leslie Manigat and he was born on August 16th 1930 in Port-au-Prince. He was an educator and a professor of world history and worked at the I'Universite' de Paris- VIII Vincennes.

An Academician

Leslie Manigat published articles in many Haitian newspapers. Even though his interest was in the field of education, he had a stint in the political stage of Haiti. He contested for the post of the President along with ten other candidates.

This election which was held on January 17th 1988 was a military held election and it was completely under their control. Leslie Manigat won with 50.29% of votes but the voter turnout was very poor, less than 10%. The military controlled election must have been the reason for the poor turnout.

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The Haitian government is led by a president, who shares his/her executive power with the prime minister. Once elected by popular vote, the president will run the country for five years. After the term, the president could not run in the next election. He/she has to wait for five years in order to seek a second term. Haiti presidents can only serve for a maximum of two terms.

Not everyone can run for president as there are certain qualifications and requirements to be eligible for the seat. Only candidates with Haitian citizenship by birth can run for the position, as well as those who are at least 35 years of age. Jail sentence, loss of civil rights and lack of property ownership and residency can make a candidate ineligible to assume the position.

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Duvalierist - Henri Namphy - 1986 - 1988 - Manigat - Coup D'Detat - Prosper Avril - General -

The 42nd and 44th president of Haiti, Henri Namphy, who reigned over Haiti for the period between 1986 to 1988 and June 1988 to September 1988, is one of the remarkable figures in Haiti's presidency. During his first reign, he got himself on the throne through National Council of Government that kicked Duvalier out power.

Henri Namphy was not at peace immediately after taking over from Duvalier who had declared himself as the president for life. Strikes and riots were the order of the day and he reacted harshly through sucking top government officials who were diehard royals of his predecessor. His reign was unanimously referred to as the "Duvalierism rule without Duvalier" as he was no better than his predecessor. After a while, however, he was able to put everything under control and secured a two year reign to the beginning of 1988.

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The period between the end of the Duvalier regime and the reformation of the Haitian government as a democracy was met with several political turmoil in the form of military power and coup d'état. Three presidents were removed from their post after serving for only a few months or years during this time of chaos. Professor Leslie Manigat was the president after Duvalier who was eventually ousted after only four months in office, having one of the shortest terms in Haitian history.

With efforts to bring Haiti back to its feet, a presidential election organized by the military was held in 1988. Leslie Manigat win against ten other presidential candidates was met with mixed reactions and criticisms. Despite this, the professor was inaugurated as president a month after. His term in office was then cut short by Haitian General Henri Namphy with a successful coup d'état, after the former removed the general as army commander. He again ran in the 2006 presidential elections but lost to René Préval, having a mere 12.4% of the votes.

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The overthrowing of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986 paved way to the gradual transition of Haitian politics to democracy and Henri Namphy was supposed to lead that transition. But before democracy reached the country, there was chaos everywhere as theft, riots, and coup d'états were rampant as the government after the Duvalier regime was unstable.

After Duvalier and his family left for France, the country was led by the National Council of Government (CNG) under Haitian general Henri Namphy. The council was made up of four individuals from the military and two civilians which tried to push for several democratic reforms and promised Haitians the occurrence of elections. Two years later, the general was then made president after successfully overthrowing Leslie Manigat who was the winner in the 1988 elections via a coup d'état.

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