The candidate for the presidency of Haiti, Mirlande Manigat arrived yesterday in Santo Domingo at 5h30pm to meet with President Leonel Fernández. Accompanied by the Dominican Ambassador in Haiti, Rubén Silié, she told to the reporters, before entering in the office of president at 6pm, that she came at the invitation of Dominican President. A statement called into question in the local press which sees an impromptu trip, indicating that this visit was not on the agenda of the presidency for the day of yesterday... At this meeting, was present Carlos Morales Troncoso, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting lasted about 1 hour 30 minutes.

After that meeting, the candidate Manigat acknowledged that the conditions for presidential elections in Haiti scheduled for March 20 are "not quite normal" but that the problems will be resolved and expressed her confidence that the situation will be finally "fairly classical for elections"...

She said that if she is elected, she will reactivate the Joint Commission Dominico-Haitian. Of which reactivation she speaks ? Mrs. Manigat does not she know that the work of the Joint Bilateral Commission was reactivated by President René Préval in August 2010? The 4th meeting of this Committee was held in December 2010 and to our knowledge, its work has not been arrested... The calendar is only delayed because of elections.

In addition, she said she had discussed with President Fernández the issue of trade between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and that given the economic situation in Haiti this would be "a good idea to have a meeting of Latin American leaders, to see how, in the current environment they can help Haiti". The candidate has probably forgotten the meetings of CARICOM (Caribbean Community) and the preferential trade agreement signed last December, providing access to Haiti in the regional market under preferential regimes for a period of three years...

The issue of migration was not discussed at the meeting, but she assured, if she is elected President of Haiti, she will improve the relations with the authorities of the Dominican Republic,. We can only regret that this issue particularly relevant, was not been discussed, while nearly 6,000 of our compatriots have been repatriated to Haiti since the beginning of the year...

Answering to a question about the presence of Jean Claude Duvalier in Haiti, Mirlande Manigat said "Duvalier is a Haitian, he can live in our country, but must do so within the framework of the law".

One thing is certain, the meeting visibly lacked of preparation and the Candidate Manigat did not have a good mastery of her records. A recurrent weakness, already identified in the first round.

Article HL/ HaitiLibre