Haiti seeks new prime minister after food riots
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti's political leaders beganthe search for a new prime minister on Sunday after a week ofriots sparked by skyrocketing food prices led to the ouster ofthe impoverished Caribbean nation's government.
The political grapevine buzzed with the names of possiblereplacements for Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, who wasfired on Saturday in a vote by 16 opposition senators who saidhe had not done enough to ramp up food production and reducethe cost of living.
By tradition, Alexis was likely to remain in office until anew government leader and cabinet were chosen. President RenePreval will propose a candidate to parliament, which mustratify the selection.
"The new prime minister needs to be someone who can unify.He should not be partisan," said Anthony Barbier, a sociologyprofessor at Haiti's University of Notre Dame and a member ofthe Fusion political party.
"It should be someone with great sensitivity toward thepoor so that he can look for solidarity in favour of those lessprivileged," he said.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas and one ravagedby political upheaval, dictatorship and military rule since aslave revolt threw off French rule 200 years ago, has struggledto install stable democratic institutions since the end of theDuvalier family reign in 1986.
The latest upheaval follows a week of rioting by Haitiansenraged at the soaring cost of rice, beans, cooking oil andother staples.
Preval, who also served as president from 1996 to 2001, isthe only elected leader to serve a full term and successfullypass power to a democratic successor.
But he is no stranger to a protracted search for a newprime minister.
In his first term, it took him 21 months to put a newgovernment in place after then-Prime Minister Rosny Smarthresigned in June 1997.
LONG STALEMATE
A stalemate with parliament then left the governmentvirtually paralyzed and hampered negotiations withinternational donors. Preval nominated two candidates who wererejected by lawmakers before settling on Alexis, who wasinstalled by decree after the legislature was dissolved.
One of Preval's rejected candidates in 1997 is among thenames being floated for prime minister by political analystsand radio show hosts now -- Ericq Pierre, a senior adviser withthe Inter-American Development Bank.
Analysts were also suggesting long-time politician PaulDenis as a possible candidate.
A former senator with the opposition party Organization forPeople in the Struggle (OPL), Denis ran unsuccessfully forpresident against Preval in 2006 and headed a commission ofinquiry that in 2005 accused ex-President Jean-BertrandAristide of misusing $50 million (25.4 million pounds) inpublic money.
He now serves as an adviser to Preval, as does Evans "Dady"Lescouflair, an OPL member and former secretary of state foryouth and sports whose name has also been floated.
Of the three, political analyst Aviol Fleurant, a lawprofessor at the State University of Haiti, said only Pierrehad the requisite independence.
"He is not known to be part of any political sector. He isa technician and he should be able to put everybody togetherbecause no one has a prejudice against him," Fleurant said.
"Paul Denis would be problematic because he isfundamentally anti-Lavalas," said Fleurant, speaking of theLavalas political movement started by Aristide, who was oustedin a bloody rebellion in 2004.
Although out of power, the movement still holds great swaywith Haiti's poor masses.
Preval gave few hints on the leadership search on Saturdayjust before the Senate vote against Alexis. He did say,however, that he would make his choice in consultation with theleaders of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
"What matters to me is stability," he said at a newsconference, revealing a glimpse of frustration over yet anotherfailed government with the ouster of an ally and friend.
"I told them we had to work together to put in place acommon program ... but it didn't happen."
(Writing by Jim Loney; Editing by Michael Christie and EricBeech)