Executive

Prime Minister Ratification Process Postponed

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The session for the ratification of the Prime Minister Daniel Gérard Rouzier could not commence on Wednesday.

According to the Haiti Press Network the process, expected to being on June 1 was halted due to, a constitutional crisis.

The amended constitution, was published in the official journal of the executive, Le Moniteur, with errors, as it had included articles not ratified by Parliament. For the sake of ceremony and apparent lack of time, Michel Martelly took the oath on the Constitution of 1987.

Since taking the Oath of Office, the President and the President's of the two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, have come to an agreement to fix the errors and present the Constitution as it should have been published.

Challengest

Mr. Gervais Charles, also the Chairman of the Port-au-Prince Bar, says that the post-inauguration changes can not be made due to Articles 284-2 of the constitution which reads: "The amendment passed may enter into effect only after installation of the next elected president. In no case may the President under the Government that approved the amendment benefit from any advantages deriving therefrom."

Even if the charges of Charles can be disregarded for the fact that it was an error in printing that cause the constitution to be that way, there are still difficulties ahead.

Two Scenarios

Due to a publication in Le Moniteur on May 13, the question arises whether under the authority of what Constitution ratification of the Prime Minister designate will be performed.

If it is under the amended, erroneous, Constitution according to Le Moniteur on May 13, the Prime Minister will have to be ratified by the National Assembly.

If is is according to the unamended Constitution of 1987, the correct version, unamended by the vote of the legislature on May 9, ratification must be in separate rooms, one with the Senators, the other with the Deputies

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Source: Haiti Press Network , Rapadoo Observatuer (photo)