- Haitian President Michel J. Martelly
When President Martelly returns to the country from his week-long trip in the United States, he will have to address the nation to state his administration’s position on the contention between the executive and the legislative –generated by the arrest on Thursday afternoon of Deputy Arnel Belizaire at the Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port-au-Prince as he was entering the country from his trip in France.
This speech will be the most important and delicate one he will ever have to deliver since he got in the National Palace six months ago, for it will have the potential to make or break his presidency.
The situation in Haiti as we speak is like a bomb that is ticking and needs to be defused as soon as possible. That means time is of the essence; there is absolutely no time to waste. As he is going to try his best to defuse it, he will have to be extremely careful to not let the unexpected worst occur.
My advice to him is to not try to pass the blame on anyone. The only best way for him to appease the situation and send everyone home with a happy face is to take personal responsibility for what happened and admit it was a technical faux pas in the way the prosecutor, Mr. Felix Leger, went about to carry out the order that was explicitly given to him.
Not only does he need to give the reasons as to why what he intended doing did not work out as expected, he also needs to include the nature of the miscalculation. Otherwise, he will have a hard time to get himself out of it and put the situation behind him.
There is nothing more humble when a leader is strong enough to be honest with his people to admit his missteps; the people love that. This will make him come out as a strong man, a man of character willing to go down so his lieutenants could be safe from enemy fire. That is, indeed, what responsible and resolute leaders do when the though gets going.
All responsible leaders mess up at some point in time during their tenure in command. And when they do, they always take personal responsibility because the bulk always stops with them. Only the coward ones pass the blame on their subordinates. President Kennedy, for instance, took full personal responsibility in the wake of the Bay of Pigs disaster.
Less than three months after President Kennedy took office, in April of 1961, as the United States wakening from the embarrassing disaster at the Bay of Pigs, when CIA-backed Cuban exiles hit the beaches of their home country only to face defeat in their attempts to overthrow the Fidel Castro government in Cuba, Kennedy took full personal responsibility for the disaster. He did not try to blame it on anybody but himself. In his address to the nation, he eloquently said: “I am the responsible officer of the government.” The strategy paid off. He then got his highest approval rating of his presidency -83% in the Gallup Poll.
President Kennedy, then a newly elected president, per most historians’ accounts, made many mistakes in his handling of the Bay of Pigs invasion. But he learned very quickly from them to better himself for the job he was elected to do for the country.
Politics is a learning profession, meaning politicians learn how to respond to issues and adapt as they go. There is no one silver bullet or blueprint as to how to avoid and solve all problems. Each issue is unique in its own genre.
So this is President Martelly’s crisis to deal with just like the Bay of Pigs disaster was President Kennedy’s embarrassment to deal with. Like President Kennedy, President Martelly has a lot of learning do. The way he will respond to this issue will tell a lot of his character. I can only hope he does the right thing, what all responsible leaders would do in his situation –taking personal responsibility and not trying to pass the blame on anyone. That is how trust and confidence that leadership will be better in the future is instilled.
Ekspoze! -The final word 
unfortunately you are far away from the truth . the truth is in Haiti the darkness always triumph on the light or the politicians always put they brain at the service of the dark .
The truth is : the c.e.p stop Wiclef Jean and so many others from the election . I can confirm no where in the country they voted for the candidates of unite . It is the same work that continues to the destabilisation of the Government . Even so , the President should accept he made a mistake . the Government is falling in the trap and there is so many more traps that will come
i dont think he is this kind of man…
his real nature will emerge once aigain…
ou cant ask a tiger to wear the skin of a sheep
as well you cant ask sommeone something he does not have..wich is ”GRANDEUR”
This is a very good topic! Thank you!
None of that had happened, what is your next advise?
This is a very good analysis and great advice for the president. Upon his returning from his medical trip, The president needed to be in crisis management mode. However, the same guy who was unrestrained and carefree and even profane as some alleged is now asking for national prayer. The prayer notion underlines the magnitude and severity of the problem the president thinks he faces. Nevertheless, I did not hear Martelly denounce in the harshest of terms the onslaught fragrantly perpetrated on the Constitution and the Deputy. If indeed he had nothing to do with the incident, at the very least he witness the assault on democratic achievements and the institutions themselves.
Unfortunately, denial of responsibility also implied that the president is not in control of his own government. News reports placed his “Super minister of Defense” on the scene heavily armed, assaulting airport employees and snapping pictures. The police commissioner was in blatant violation of established laws and norms, not to mention ordering a sitting legislator jailed. How about the MINUSTAH providing logistical support to the national police? Who has enough power to order foreign troops to detain a deputy in full function who is not armed or fleeing. Who dared block access to the diplomatic room to the president of the House of Deputies while the Minister of Defense got in with his armed officers? Not to say anything of numerous reports of senators of deputies meeting with President Martelly trying to prevent the chaotic scene that embarrassed the entire country. Taking all of this into account, it is safe to say that the president does not control his government and that present a bigger problem for the country and the constitution.
While your JFK parallel was eloquent, it is difficult for me to make the same comparison. Evidently, we’re talking about apples and oranges in terms of character and career, although both situations are considered political crisis on some level.
Keep writing!
With so many important issues screaming for attention, such distractions should have been avoided at all cost. The fact that the president (“sweet Micky”) allowed himself to be involved in such blatant self-serving acts of lawlessness shows how clueless and/or indifferent he and his entourage prove themselves to be.
This government, just like previous ones who failed, has a great deal of opportunity available to them to change things. instead, they chose to continue leading the people in the same old unproductive and chaotic path of destruction. The message that the president fails to understand is that he was chosen, despite his shortcomings, only out of desperation to escape the status quo. And now that he has repeatedly proven himself to be as arrogant, unproductive, indifferent and under-prepared as previous administration, he must take a hike, sooner than later.
The country is in desperate need of change; It cannot afford to waste any more time.
Interesting….I was in agreement with the article until I read the responses…..Just admitting that you take responsibility is honorable for a leader but making corrections is the key…. Based on response..This guy who ordered the arrest has too much power and it needs to be taken away. On the otherhand if President MArtelly ordered this….Then poor strategy on his part.