Senator - Haiti Observer Blog

I don't know but this new label can't be good for our Haitian lawmakers in Haiti; specially those whom their term will come to an end in January of 2014. Let me correct this, for those who have discussions regarding their terms.

Can someone tell me exactly what "Singularly Unproductive" means?

According to the Special Coordinator for Haiti at the State Department, Thomas C. Adams, " The Haitian lawmakers have not passed enough laws that could help the country cope with the challenges of modern development and investment".

During a recent session before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives in Washington, Thomas C. Adams said " The Haitian Parliament was singularly unproductive this past year, from something like 9 laws in total"

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Let me put it this way instead: Do you think it's the right time for the Haitian Senate to start a new battle with the executive branch of government in Haiti?

After the affair of Attorney Andre Michel that occupied front page last week in almost all Haitian medias as well as some international medias, the Haitian Senate has decided that they also need some attention for themselves as well.

The Senate voted last week to start the interpellation proceeding for 3 Ministers in the Laurent Lamothe Government. The President of the Lower House, Senator Jean-Baptiste Bien-Aimé, made that announced at a press conference last Friday.

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During a confidence hearing on 5 November, 2013, the Senator Wencesclass Lambert said, there are enough votes in the Senate to relieve Jean Renel Sanon from his duty as the Haitian Minister of Justice and Public Safety. On the same day, 18 out of 20 Senators signed a letter contemplating an interpellation of three ministers, David Bazile (Minister of Interior and Collective Territories), Pierre Richard Casimir (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Jean Renel Sanon (Minister of Justice and Public Safety).

Being a Minister of Justice and Public Safety of the country, Sanon exposed the incompetence and callousness of his own justice administration in an murder attempt of popular Journalist and Radio Host, Jean Monard Metellus, of Radio Caraibes. Metellus is a respected fair journalist and in some sense very critical of the Martelly administration.

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Haitian-American Linda Dorcéna Forry has been named the Senator for the 1st Suffolk District in the Massachusetts State Senate. On Tuesday the 28th of May 2013, Forry, a Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing her district since 2005, beat Republican Joseph Anthony Ureneck for the seat by a whopping 82% of over 9,600 votes. Her victory is a considerable one as it marks the first time a person of Haitian descent has been elected the U.S. Senate.

Linda Dorcéna Forry was born in Boston in 1973. She attended the ST. Kevin Grammar School and then the Monsignor Ryan Memorial High School. Her alma mater was Boston College, where she studied business management before working as a legislative assistant. In 1999 she left the State House to work for the City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development's executive staff and she rose to become the Acting Chief of Staff.

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After 3 convocations not respected by Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, it finally took place yesterday, June 4th, 2013. The Prime Minister spent over 11 hours in the Senate answering questions from a number of Senators. He was threatened with a possible interpellation if he did not respond to this convocation.

According to comments from many Senators as well as many responses from social medias and radios so far, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe did not convince them with his responses yesterday. This includes explanations given on the use of 5 billion Gourdes disbursed during the period of emergency last year, projects in various departments, road construction, Airport construction as well as respect for the Haitian Constitution.

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After the reign and eventual ousting of Jean-Claude Duvalier from the president's chair in 1986, a new constitution was need for Haiti to move forward. Louis Noisin served as one of the builders of this new group of fundamental laws, a contribution that was awarded two years later in January of 1988 when he was made a senator.

As irony would have it, Noisin only served four months on the seat before being himself dismissed amidst the deposing of President Leslie Manigat. It had been speculated that the entire election process had been rigged and a military junta proceeded to unseat the Haitian president and the president of the senate. It had been a bitter pill for Noisin, who said he had been hopeful for a new era for Haiti. Three months following the military coup which unseated him, Noisin left Haiti amidst growing danger.

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Every century is graced by certain men who have helped to write the course of many countries, including their own. At the turn of the 20th Century, in 1904 to be exact, Haiti gave birth to just one of its contributions to that circle.

When Emile Saint-Lot first caught the fever to defend his country, he was all but a boy, witnessing first-hand the military invasion by the US, which occupied Haiti between 1915 and 1937. He would go on to study and practice journalism and to teach law, finally becoming a senator and civil court chief justice. His election as senator of the West on the 19th of June, 1946 came a year after his taking the role of Haiti's first United Nations Ambassador. He also served as a Security Council member, with the task of voting on whole nations' independence. He would cast this powerful vote for countries like Libya (about whose independence he presented an impassioned speech to the UN in 1957), Somalia and Israel.

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Claims against one-time Senator and President Michel Martelly's Special Political Advisor, Joseph Lambert, of his making death threats to them, have been filed by his former colleagues. Deputies Levaillant Louis-Jeune and Saurel Jacinthe, who worked with Lambert for INITE and LESPWA are alleging, by filing formal complaints with the Court of First Instance, that he has made threats against their lives.

The Government Commissioner, Me Lucmane Delile affirmed his receipt of the complaints in his role as Chief of Parquet. Delille has further stated a desire to become better acquainted with the circumstances before pushing forward with the pending lawsuits. Further corroborating the separate testimonies is Marie Yolene Gilles from RNDDH (National Network for the Defense of Human Rights) who confirms they were in receipt of sworn testimonies from Haitian citizens, though she declined to say specifically from whom. Details of the threats are scarce, but already tales of a plot to murder the two men, once Presidents of the Chamber, on April 29 have also been reported.

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The ongoing battle between Former Haitian Senator Joseph Lambert and Deputy Levaillant Louis-Jeune

This week, former Senator Joseph Lambert put on his cowboy hat and boots and tok to the streets of Port-au-Prince in search of Deputy Levaillant Louis-Jeune. Unfortunately, the two did not meet

I can only imagine what would have happened in the event of an actual meeting. Are you familiar with old wild west. It could have been some real confrontation between these two.

Joseph Lambert:

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The Senate in Haiti is also referred to as the Upper House, which is one of the houses making up the bicameral Parliament. There are certain characteristics that separate the Senate from the Lower House, or the Chamber of Deputies.

The first round of senatorial election was held in November 2005 and the second round occurred three months later. There are 27 senators with a ratio of three per department. Senators are appointed through a voting system. Those who gained absolute majority will get to serve in the Upper House for six years but re-election takes place every two years.

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