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| Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the country has been devastated by Fay, Gustav and Hanna, all hitting in less than a month and leaving over 200 dead and others missing, decimating crops and livestock, and leaving the northern city of Gonaïves almost underwater and cut off from the rest of the country. | |
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, September 5, 2008 - The political deadlock in Haiti is officially over with Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis, in the early hours of this morning, passing the final test that now allows her to govern the country.
Almost five months after Senators agreed 16-0 to fire the last prime minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis, and his government, they decided in a similar vote to give the nod to Ms Pierre-Louis' 18-member Cabinet and her programme for the Caribbean country.
The new government leader, the third person to be nominated for the post after President René Préval's two previous nominees Ericq Pierre and Robert Manuel were rejected, had last week earned the support of the lower house of parliament - the Chamber of Deputies - but needed at least 16 votes in the Senate to be able to finally run the country.
"What happened here today is the result of dialogue and the conviction of all of us here," President of the Senate Kely Bastien declared after a long voting process that began late yesterday and ended in the early hours of this morning. "A parliament is not guaranteed democracy, but democracy cannot exist without a parliament. I hope that the dialogue will continue."
Ms Pierre-Louis' journey to becoming the second female prime minister took her through an initial round of voting in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate to ratify her in the position. She then had to choose a Cabinet and create a programme to take the country forward and that too had to be approved by both legislative chambers before she could be authorised to govern the country.
Even today's vote was not an easy one, with two of the 17 Senators initially putting Ms Pierre-Louis' approval in jeopardy when they abstained. However, after a break in the sessions during which efforts were made to convince one of them, Senator Joseph Pierre-Louis had a change of heart and gave the prime minister the last vote which she needed.
Ms Pierre-Louis has already acknowledged the challenge she will face.
"It's going to be very difficult. To govern this country is not going to be easy," she said soon after being first ratified.
To help her, the new prime minister, who will also serve as minister of justice and public security, has selected a Cabinet that includes seven ministers from the previous government. In her plan for the country, she said that among the top priorities will be food security, employment, infrastructure upgrades, and advancing health care. Prime Minister Pierre-Louis also said she would take action to create the necessary environment to facilitate investments.
She officially takes over the government as Haitians begin to pick up the pieces left in the wake of three deadly storms. Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the country has been devastated by Fay, Gustav and Hanna, all hitting in less than a month and leaving over 200 dead and others missing, decimating crops and livestock, and leaving the northern city of Gonaïves almost underwater and cut off from the rest of the country.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP), the world's biggest aid organisation, was distributing food to Gustav victims and evaluating the humanitarian impact of the hurricane when Hanna struck Gonaïves.
"Right when humanitarian assistance was reaching affected communities in the south, tropical storm Hanna arrived and again blocked roads and created lots of problems," said WFP Representative in Haiti, Myrta Kaulard, in an interview with UN Radio.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, and other UN agencies were eventually able to reach Gonaïves using speed boats to deliver some humanitarian aid, but a ship loaded with WFP and UNICEF supplies has been sitting idle because of the weather.
"All roads able to access Gonaïves are cut, either by bridges that have collapsed, by trees that have fallen down, or by waters that have washed way parts of the streets," said Ms Kaulard.
She said the aid waiting to be distributed included 50 tonnes of water, 19 tonnes of biscuits, water purification tablets, and trucks, cars and boats to help with the evacuation of people, some of whom are stranded on their rooftops, and the transport of the food and water to the population.
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