Author Archives: Emann Joasil

Aug 11 2011

JOBS: PR SPECIALIST NEEDED IN NU-LOOK!!!

Nu-Look, Haitian Konpa band

Nu-Look, Haitian Konpa band

NU-LOOK is not a rookie band. After so many years in the business, one does expect better and more from them. Some public relations missteps or rookie PR mistakes coming from their ranks are unacceptable. For such a high profile band, their PR sucks, meaning mediocre and subpar. And that is very sad.

First, it was the verbal exchange at that NU-LOOK party in Florida that involved a certain ROMEO STARK, whom Kompamagazine identifies as a journalist, and MAESTRO ARLY that made the press; then came the saga between MAESTRO ARLY and ALIX NOZILE, the band’s congas player. All in one night. See interview: http://bit.ly/piNsqj and http://bit.ly/rrzBTG

I cannot remember when was the last time I stumbled on a press release from NU-LOOK. In the midst of all this bad press the band has been getting as a result of these two incidents in one night, one would expect the band’s PR staffer, if there is one that is, to be on top of his/her game and issue an official press release to zero on the issues, explain exactly what went down that night and put the matters to rest. No, that would be too formal and professional for them.

Almost two weeks after the incidents, not one official press release from the band has made its way into the media. All we have got thus far is a bunch of conflicting statements from members of the band -RORO, PIPO and ALIX NOZILE -and this guy ROMEO STARK. Meanwhile the band is being slammed left and right in the press by people who have been waiting for it to make a blunder to run with it.

A new issue has currently made the surface of the ocean: ALIX NOZILE and his immigration status. There is a cloud of uncertainty and confusion surrounding this guy’s immigration papers, it is not even funny. For years, that man has not been able to travel overseas with the band because of his “undocumented alien” status. Not too long ago, he came out publicly on Kompamagazine with the news that he had obtained his green card, which everybody was happy to hear. Wouldn’t anyone expect his overseas traveling to be a done deal?

So will he be traveling to Haiti with the band or not? That’s the mystery of it all. Not even RORO IRENE, the band’s gongist, who has been with NU-LOOK since the early days of its inception, could answer that question. When Kompamagazine asked him to answer the question, in a dumbfounded twist, he put it like this: “I will know the answer to that on August 4th just like everybody else.” http://bit.ly/pQJ1Cp So even he does not have a clue as to whether ALIX NOZILE has his legal residency papers or not to travel overseas.

If management, in coordination with the PR staffer, was doing its job, why should the veracity of the news about ALIX NOZILE’s immigration papers coming to terms be questioned and challenged in the press, thereby making him (Nozile) look like a ridiculous joke? Shouldn’t management have physically seen his papers, made photocopy of and kept them in his file? Once confirmed, shouldn’t management have issued a press release to inform the press of this new development? I guess that would have been too much on Dolf Chancy, the manager of the band.

NU-LOOK’s PR glitch is life threatening. Enough with the PR indiscipline! Enough with the rookie mistakes! So They need someone on board badly with the required skills to take care of their PR and institute PR discipline in the band. This is as urgent as a heart attack. If they do not move quickly and proceed intelligently with a sense of urgency on that to correct the deficiencies, I could foresee disaster in their ranks. The ball is now in their court to do whatever they see fit. At the end of the day, it will be their business that will be effected, not mine.

Aug 9 2011

NOT ALWAYS CHEATING IS BAD

No one should condone abuse in relationships -whether it be physical, psychological and/or emotional. Anybody who is in an abusive relationship or marriage MUST leave before the unthinkable occurs. There is no excuse for such behavior.

Now, having said that, some may see cheating as a form of psychological or emotional abuse because it tends to impact the psychological well-being of the person being cheated on. Well, that is, understandably so, a fair argument to make. But not always cheating is bad. Sometimes, it could be the best thing to have happened in a relationship.

Depending on the situation, the act of cheating itself -though deceptive and despicable -should NOT be used as a valid excuse to end a relationship or marriage.

That is why many people admire Hillary Clinton so much for her courage and strong-mindedness. They see in her attributes of a born-leader, who knows how to make the best decisions in times of crisis. She stood against all odds and tribunals of the world to save her marriage with former President Bill Clinton -when the latter had brought shame and deception to their marriage by lying to the world before he admitted having cheated on her with Monica Lewinski.

Unless the person does not really care about you, in this case you have no business being in a relationship or marriage with that person, people do not cheat for the fun of cheating. There is always something that triggers the person to take such a high risk.

Usually, when someone cheats, if you take the time to investigate the cause(s) behind the act, you would find evidence that something is missing in the relationship or marriage. It is not always about the great things that you had done; rather, it could be the basics that you had failed to do causing the person to go outside the boundaries of the relationship or marriage to seek remedy to their dissatisfaction. And if you do not have that level of communication already well-established between you and that person, you may never find out what it is that has been missing.

In Haitian Creole, there is this saying “se chyen ki pa byen manje k mache devant pòt kay moun,” meaning only those dogs that are poorly fed would leave their owners’ places to go look for foods elsewhere. So feed your dog fully and properly, he or she will not feel the need to be roaming outside seeking for self-gratification elsewhere.

Some may argue: “Well, he/she could have just been honest to leave without having to put me through this.” No, the person has never claimed not wanting to be with you, so it would not make any sense to leave you. He/she only wanted that emptiness, which you were incapable of fulfilling, to be fulfilled. That does not mean that the person he/she cheated on you with is better than you. Yes, it is the wrong approach to go about, but a real one at that if we really want to keep it real.

In the case of Arnold Schwazenegger and his wife Maria Shriver, for instance, many people feel for her for the pains and sufferings she has to endure. However, she could be the one at fault. Maybe she is not feeding her dog well enough. Or the worst case scenario, Arnold has a psychological issue that needs to be dealt with.

If a person just cannot stop cheating or has a pattern of documented cheating incidents, maybe that person needs to be psychologically evaluated to determine the underlying causes so necessary steps to help that person could be taken.

When a person cheats, it makes no sense for the person being cheated on to be too quick to walk away. Yes, it is always the first instinctive reaction, but not a sensical and logical one. Together, they should take a moment to evaluate the relationship to see what went wrong and how to fix things.

Cheating is the breaking point in any relationship. Though it is a shameful and despicable act, it could offer the opportunity for the couple to grow. But for that developmental growth to take place, they must assess the state of the relationship or marriage so together they could find ways to treat or cure the problem(s).

Finally, though no one can possibly condone cheating, many agree that it could be exactly what is needed to spice things up, bring some excitement into the relationship or marriage, and get the two individuals involved to pay more attention to and care more about the relationship or marriage. Keep in mind that cheating is a big risk for anyone to take, especially when you really care about the person you are with. So this is not the type of risk people take just for the sake of taking risks. The person accepts to go that far because something is missing and they go out on a mission to find it. Again, feed your dog the way he or she needs to be fed, unless that dog has a mental dilemma, you will not have to worry about him or her cheating on you with someone else. So not always cheating is bad.

Aug 8 2011

THE SILLY ARGUMENT WE HEAR IN KONPA

Last night on my radio talk show BRIKOURI on RADYO KONTAK FM 87.9 or http://www.radyokontak.com broadcast out of New Jersey every Sunday night at 10, some of my callers were making the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard in my life.

They were arguing that GAZZMAN COULEUR of DISIP does not know how to sing. When I asked them when does someone know how to sing, they could not answer in a way to make sense to me.

I have been hearing for years this silly and despicable argument from many of our Konpa music fans; last night I decided to take a bold stand to challenge it.

If GAZZMAN did not know how to sing, do you really think a man as picky as MAESTRO ARLY would have kept him around for over a decade in NU LOOK? And with him in the lineup, that band had dominated our Konpa music for years. If he did not know how to sing, do you possibly think a man as demanding and selective as MAESTRO RICHIE of ZENGLEN would have had him sing the songs “Ou Se” and “Adrienne?” If he did not know how to sing, do you think SHEDLEY ABRAHAM, one of the best drummers and producers we have in our Konpa music, would have had him sing the hit song “Sexy Love” on his latest Djaz La album? Of course, that would have not happened.

While the American Music Industry is looking at how commercial and “hot” an artist is, we Haitians are stuck on making the silliest argument of whether or not that person can sing. As a matter of fact, let’s go to Jamaica and take the Dancehall artist Elephant Man, for instance. I guess if he were a Konpa artist, some of us Haitians would have seen him as someone who does not “know how to sing.” I am literally laughing out loud and shaking my head in disbelief.

When I asked these callers when does someone know how to sing to them, they said it is when the person can reach the high notes. Huh!!! I asked them what would be said of someone with a soprano or alto vocal tune trying to do base vocals and cannot? Would they see that person as someone who does not know how to sing? They were rumbling. And when I realized that they were wasting my time, I hanged up the phone and picked up the next callers.

Let’s take JACOB DESVARIEUX of the Martinique-based Zouk band KASSAV, for instance. KASSAV has become what we know of it today mainly because of his contributions with the uniqueness of his unusual vocal tune. If that man were a Konpa artist, these Haitians in their silliness would have told you with a straight face that he does not know how to sing. This is so ridiculous to say the least. I am not trying to put my people down, but some of us have been making some of the most insane, silly and ludicrous arguments. Seriously, we need to stop.

Let me close by saying this: some of the myths and misconceptions we have in our circles must be eradicated. That’s the only way we can progress as a nation. I understand you can choose not to be a fan of a specific artist, but you must respect the person’s natural abilities and aptitudes.

Everybody can sing so long as they have a voice. That is why there are vocal coaches in the business to work with them. Can you believe a man as great as MICHAEL JACKSON, one of the greatest entertainers to have lived our world, had vocal coaches constantly around working with him until the last day of his musical journey? I guess some of us Haitians would say that “knowing how to sing” entails not needing anyone to coach you on how to take and keep a vocal note.

Someone’s vocal tune can be more liked or admired than others, but that does not give that person leverage over the rest of them in the league. So please quit this silly argument of knowing and not knowing how to sing. It is all a myth you would probably find only in Konpa.

Aug 4 2011

THE ERA OF LAVALAS IS OVER

Only in Haiti could a guy like MOISE JEAN-CHARLES, the Senator from the Northern District of the country, someone who can barely read and write his name, find himself in a position where he could humiliate a highly educated and qualified man (with a doctorate degree in law and years of leadership experience) in the caliber of BERNARD H. GOUSSE, who was chosen by PRESIDENT MARTELLY to lead the country’s government. Unfortunately, he got voted down in the Senate by the 16 LAVALAS senators.

Thanks to ARISTIDE and PREVAL, the fathers of the LAVALAS philosophy, such a character could be in the Senate -the respectable chamber of the wises -to legislate in a country as ill and desperate as Haiti, where values such as integrity, honesty, professionalism and savoir-faire should be praised and honored. That’s what “change” as envisioned and promoted by LAVALAS means.

We Haitians would be really dumb and stupid to bring these LAVALAS guys back in power again, seriously. In all earnest, we should be having billboards all over the country that read in bold and capital letters “THE ERA OF LAVALAS IS OVER!”

After 25 years, no one can keep blaming DUVALIER for the quagmire LAVALAS -with Aristide and Preval -has plunged the country in. We had voted these guys in power with hopes they would come and do better than DUVALIER; unfortunately, they failed the country miserably. They brought us institutionalized corruption, organized crimes (chimères, kidnapping, rape, etc…) and lawlessness. That was, indeed, an avalanche the country had experienced; it left behind a chaotic state, and it will take us decades to bring it back to its state of normalcy.

Obviously, after the collapse of the DUVALIER regime, we, as a people, have proven our incapacity to do better. That’s why for the past 20 years, we had 4 terms of LAVALAS. In other words, we had voted in power nothing but these guys to literally emulate the system of corruption and organized and systematic violence they had been criticizing the Duvalierists for. I guess we could not do any better.

LAVALAS -the political movement said embedded in the philosophy of Justice, Transparency and Participation, which most of us stood for and strongly supported in 1990 (the year that witnessed the emergence of ARISTIDE to power in Haiti), sadly, had been substituted with ignorance, stupidity and mediocrity.

This time, my fellow Haitians, let us challenge ourselves by showing to the international community watching us that we can do better by yelling loud and clear at the top of our lungs “THE ERA OF LAVALAS IS OVER!”

We will not and must not forget. So for the record, here are the names of the 16 LAVALAS senators who rejected in the Senate the choice of BERNARD H. GOUSSE for prime minister:

01- Exius Piierre francky (South)
02- Sainvil Francois Lucas (Northwest)
03- Privert Jocelerme (Nippes)
04- Lebon Fritz Carlos (South)
05- Lambert Joseph (Southeast)
06- Lambert Wenceslass (Southeast)
07- John Joseph Joel (West)
08- Bastien Kelly C (North)
09- Cassy Nenel (Nippes)
10- Pierre Louis Derex Lucien (Northeast)
11- Bien Aime Jean Baptiste (Northeast)
12- Moise Jean Charles (North)
13- Wesner Polycarpe (North)
14- Buissereth Yvon (South)
15- Desras Simon Dieuseul (Central)
16- Beauplan Evalliere (Northwest)

For the record, the following is the integral text of GOUSSE’s reaction after he lost the bet of becoming the country’s Prime Minister:

PROMESSES D’AVENIR

Haïti: Chers Amis Compatriotes,

Le Sénat a pris une décision qui met malheureusement fin au cheminement qui devait me permettre de me mettre au service de mon pays. Malheureusement … mais momentanément.

Ma désignation a soulevé un débat public salutaire où les forces saines de la population se sont exprimées en faveur du bien, de la vie, de l’éducation, contre le mal absolu incarné dans une barbarie s’étant abattue éhontément sur les bébés, les femmes âgées, les petites marchandes et les ouvriers.

Je remercie Monsieur le Président de la République, Michel J. Martelly, d’avoir désiré m’associer à l’oeuvre de son mandat populaire.

Je remercie les parents et amis qui n’ont jamais fléchi dans leur support. Je remercie surtout les anonymes rencontrés dans les rues, sur les places, qui, discrètement mais chaleureusement, m’ont encouragé dans un combat qui était devenu le leur.

Je remercie aussi mes compatriotes sénateurs du groupe des 16 pour la publicité faite autour de mon nom avec un zèle quotidien dont n’aurait pu faire preuve la meilleure agence de publicité. J’ai pu grâce à eux me prouver à moi-même et démontrer à mes compatriotes mon endurance à garder le font haut et la tête altière, le regard porté vers un destin collectif de grandeur, indifférent aux crachats et aux vulgaires piaillements. Je ne manquerai donc pas de leur faire parvenir leurs honoraires s’ils me soumettent une facture pour un travail décidément bien fait.

Le débat parlementaire du 2 août 2011 a permis que des sénateurs désintéressés défendissent le droit et les valeurs morales avec une opiniâtreté, un panache et une éloquence pour lesquels je les félicite. Ils n’ont pas été vaincus et ont, j’espère, suscité des vocations de parlementaires valeureux, nourris de courage et de science. La défaite fut celle, éphémère, du droit, et celle, peut-être définitive, de l’honneur du Sénat, alors que languissent sous les tentes et dans les masures, dans les écoles comme dans les conseils d’administration, dans une patience de plus en plus ténue, les espoirs déçus d’une Haïti studieuse, travailleuse et reconstruite.

Le combat dans lequel je suis engagé dépasse désormais ma personne ; je ne peux l’abandonner. L’horizon de ce combat ne s’arrête pas à la question de premier ministre. Le temps est venu pour que la dignité, le travail honnête et l’éducation soient les valeurs proposées en exemple et récompensées, pour que soient vaincues l’immoralité, la corruption, les richesses spontanées et l’arrogante ignorance.

La vie publique bien conçue, en dépit de ses vicissitudes, mérite que l’on s’y consacre quand la guident l’accès généralisé aux services sociaux de base, la modernisation de l’Etat, la libération des énergies créatrices et surtout le regain de la dignité nationale.

Je resterai donc parmi vous
Au revoir

GPR, Gousse Pi Rèd.

Jul 17 2011

LEARN HOW TO MAKE HAITIAN HAMBURGER

The Haitian hamburger is juicy and tasty. You are about to learn how to make it in a few minutes. Once you eat it, you will not want to eat again these tasteless hamburgers you are accustomed to. You will be hooked. That is how good it is.

This is just for 1 hamburger. The amount of servings can always vary.

Ingredients:
Burger, vegetable oil, water, lemon juice, a small bag of Con Azafran by Goya, a small bag of Chiken Bouillon by Goya, Grace season, onion, green pepper, red pepper, thyme powder, hamburger roll.

Preparation:
1. Take the onion, green pepper and red pepper; cut them into very small pieces. The amount of the onion and red and green peppers you are going to put in there depends on your taste.

2. Turn your stove on low.

3. Put your pan on the stove and allow some time for it to be heated.

4. With a teaspoon of vegetable oil, grease the inside of the pan so the burger does not stick when it is in there.

5. Put the burger in the pan and let it stay for 5-10 minutes. If dry, add 2 teaspoons of water. After the 5-10 minutes, flip the burger over.

6. Now you have the tender side up. With a knife, you mark (you do not cut) the burger in small squares so the seasonings you are about to add can deeply penetrate it.

7. Add 4 drops of lemon juice on top of the burger.

8. Open the small bags of Con Azafran and Chicken Bouillon and sprinkle them on top of the meat.

9. Take the Grace Season and spread a little bit of it all over the top of the meat.

10. Sprinkle a very small amount of the thyme powder on the meat.

11. Now is the time to add the onions and green and red peppers.

12. Cover the pan for a good 5 minutes. If you suspect the water is drying, add 2 teaspoons of water. And control the fire. Turn it down a little bit if you have to, if the pan is getting too hot.

13. After the 5 minutes, uncover the pan and flip the burger over so you can take care of the other side.

14. Repeat steps 6 through 13.

15. Toast the hamburger roll in the oven. Well, at least, that is how I like my roll toasted. If you have a toaster, of course, you can use it as well.

You can always spread mayonnaise on the roll and add cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and ketchup if you like. It is all up to you.

Jul 17 2011

LEARN HOW TO MAKE HAITIAN HAMBURGER

The Haitian hamburger is juicy and tasty. You are about to learn how to make it in a few minutes. Once you eat it, you will not want to eat again these tasteless hamburgers you are accustomed to. You will be hooked. That is how good it is.

This is just for 1 hamburger. The amount of servings can always vary.

Ingredients:
Burger, vegetable oil, water, lemon juice, a small bag of Con Azafran by Goya, a small bag of Chiken Bouillon by Goya, Grace season, onion, green pepper, red pepper, thyme powder, hamburger roll.

Preparation:
1. Take the onion, green pepper and red pepper; cut them into very small pieces. The amount of the onion and red and green peppers you are going to put in there depends on your taste.

2. Turn your stove on low.

3. Put your pan on the stove and allow some time for it to be heated.

4. With a teaspoon of vegetable oil, grease the inside of the pan so the burger does not stick when it is in there.

5. Put the burger in the pan and let it stay for 5-10 minutes. If dry, add 2 teaspoons of water. After the 5-10 minutes, flip the burger over.

6. Now you have the tender side up. With a knife, you mark (you do not cut) the burger in small squares so the season you are about to add can deeply penetrate it.

7. Add 4 drops of lemon juice on top of the burger.

8. Open the small bags of Con Azafran and Chicken Bouillon and sprinkle them on top of the meat.

9. Take the Grace Season and spread a little bit of it all over the top of the meat.

10. Sprinkle a very small amount of the thyme powder on the meat.

11. Now is the time to add the onions and green and red peppers.

12. Cover the pan for a good 5 minutes. If you suspect the water is drying, add 2 teaspoons of water. And control the fire. Turn it down a little bit if you have to, if the pan is getting too hot.

13. After the 5 minutes, uncover the pan and flip the burger over so you can take care of the other side.

14. After the 5 minutes, repeat steps 6 through 13.

15. Toast the hamburger roll in the oven. Well, at least, that is how I like my roll toasted. If you have a toaster, of course, you can use it as well.

You can always spread mayonnaise on the roll and add cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and catch up if you like. It is all up to you.

By Emann Joasil • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged
0
Jul 16 2011

PRESIDENT MARTELLY IS RAISING THE HEAT, EVALLIERE BEAUPLAN IS SCARED

PRESIDENT MARTELLY should have done this long ago -raising the heat by a) campaigning across the country selling his choice for Prime Minister to the people and b) exposing the tactics of the GPR-INITE parliamentarians wanting to literally torpedo his administration. Now EVALLIERE BEAUPLAN, one of the 16 senators hostile to GOUSSE, the president’s pick for Prime Minister, is feeling the heat, according to this article on Radiokiskeya.com. http://bit.ly/pyvik1

BEAUPLAN is so scared now that he is making false threats to PRESIDENT MARTELLY. He made it clear that if the president dissolves the legislature, his presidency will not last 24 hours; Martelly did not say a word about dissolving the Congress. This is proof that BEAUPLAN is feeling the heat. That’s a good sign.

This is a battle the president should fight and win by using a clear battle strategy -keep making the case for GOUSSE and exposing the strategy of the GPR-INITE guys as you are multiplying the talks and consultations. As I said before, you don’t “negotiate” from a position of weakness.

PRESIDENT MARTELLY must keep dragging his feet. Time is his best weapon right about now. He needs to keep slowing the process of sending GOUSSE before the Parliament; the longer the process lasts, the more the heat will mount on the GPR-INITE lawmakers. And he must not stop blaming them for the worsening of the people’s situation.

While the pressure is mounting on the GPR-INITE bloc, he needs to intensify the talks and consultations so that the people and the international community could see that he is trying his very best to “negotiate” with the legislature to pass the congressional gridlock and start solving the people’s problems.

In the logic of keeping the talks and consultations going, he needs to have a meeting with PREVAL and the leadership of the GPR-INITE group to attempt to find a solution to the crisis. PREVAL owns these slaves; therefore, he must have a talk with the master.

Time is on the president’s side of the spectrum. The longer this lasts, the better it is for him politically. He must not capitulate and be quick to raise the white flag. I foresee he will win this fight and come out of it politically stronger than ever before.

This is a psychological warfare; therefore, it must be fought and won psychologically. As long as he keeps selling his guy to the people across the country, denouncing the strategy of the GPR-INITE group and multiplying the consultations, he will be alright.

Jul 15 2011

My REFLECTION OF THE DAY 07/15/2011

The Republicans want to solve the deficit equation solely by cutting spending. They believe that doing so will keep more money in the treasury, which will eventually balance the equation.

The Democrats, on the other hand, believe otherwise. They finally agree to cut spending, which will negatively affect medicare and medicaid, but opt to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans is not something the Republicans would support; it goes against their core ideological value. They argue that these people are job creators in the economy; therefore, taxing them will undermine their ability to create jobs, which will slow down the economy.

But we have a problem, though. The republicans’ argument for not wanting to raise taxes on the rich does not seem to make much sense to me; I refuse to buy it. We had tried this trickle-down economic philosophy during the Bush administration; unfortunately, it failed to solve the equation; the economy had gotten worse.

These wealthiest Americans were not creating jobs when they were getting tax cuts after tax cuts under Bush. Instead of seeing jobs being created in the economy, we witnessed the opposite -jobs fleeing the economy to go overseas, causing the recession in the first place.

So I wholeheartedly am in agreement with the approach proposed by the democrats to solve the deficit equation. We had tried the Republican way before; unfortunately, it worsened the situation. We have got to be really stupid to be wanting to keep doing the same ineffective thing expecting different results. It is time that we try something else.

Jul 12 2011

MARTELLY NEEDS TO PUT ON SOME WEIGHT

Politics is a weight game; if you are politically weak, do not get on the field trying to play it. Otherwise, you are going to get badly and shamefully injured.

As it stands now, President Martelly is politically weak and frail; his political base is totally unstructured and unorganized. He needs to work on putting on some political weight (in parallel) as he is tackling many things at once.

If I were to advise him, I would tell him to put in place a committee of political strategists and experts to work on the formation of a structured political party to solidify and strengthen his political base. That party should be heavily active and represented in the country and in the Diaspora.

If you take a glance at the makeup of the Parliament, you will quickly realize that President Martelly has no real political weight in there. So that is bad business for him. He needs to work on changing the makeup of that body as soon as possible.

The only democratic way the makeup of our legislature can be changed is through democratic elections. And the only way he can have people sharing his philosophy of change in that body is if and only if he has a solid political party that could get them elected in the next elections.

President Martelly ran a campaign on the promise to change our politics, develop our economy and revolutionize our society. All these things he promised could be just empty rhetoric if he does not have a political structure in place.

Revolutions (political, economic and social) take time to mature. In other words, you do not see the results of a revolutionary movement in five years -the presidential term of service in Haiti. This is something that could take a quarter of a century before you start seeing results.

So President Martelly needs to have that structure in place that could carry the spirit and philosophy of that vision of change beyond his term in office. That is what you call durable and sustainable change.

It is going to be very difficult for the President to advance his political agenda without a majority in the legislature to back him up. That is how politics works. So he must sit down with the GPR-Inite concentration in the Parliament to see how they can work out their differences and arrive at a consensus on the choice of the Prime Minister to pass this congressional gridlock.

Let us face it. After President Obama lost the House of Representatives to the Republicans last November, the game has changed; the political calculus has shifted. So he had to put on hold some elements of his ambitious progressive agenda to deal with the conservative leadership in Congress. That’s exactly what President Martelly is going to have to do for the time being -until he strengthens his ranks and gets his troops in the chambers of Congress.

My political instinct tells me that more than likely Gousse is not going to be ratified. If my prediction is right, President Martelly is going to have to designate someone else to be his Prime Minister. This time, he should ask the GPR-Inite elements to do two things:

1) Write down the profile of someone they would ratify without a doubt (hopefully, this is something all the parties would agree upon)

2) Send over to him a list of five names of people they would ratify, which he could choose the Prime Minister from.

Once he secures these two things from the Parliament, he will form an independent team of trusted experts/advisers to thoroughly vet each and every single one of them. Once the vetting process is over, they will recommend the best and most suitable person for the job to him. Then that is the name he will send forth to Senator Joazil -the President of the General Assembly.

The GPR-Inite guys cannot continue to play their game for long. Eventually, that game they are playing will get old; they will be running out of options. The President needs to play with a winning state of mind that game these guys are playing. He needs to be patient and stay focused on getting the head of his government ratified, solidifying his political base and changing the makeup of the Parliament so he could get his political, economic and social reforms on the way.

Jul 11 2011

THE HAITIAN LEGISLATURE: A CASE STUDY FOR ALL POLITICAL JUNKIES

I understand democracy can be hard, but it is poised to get harder when you have people in political positions with no clue whatsoever of how democracy works and what it means to be public servant.

As we speak, we have a serious crisis in Haiti, and it has nothing to do with our democratic experience; rather, it has to do with the people we have in our political institutions, especially the legislature, to represent us. So solving this crisis requires that we take bolt and unpopular measures.

I strongly believe we need to find a way to get rid of this legislature we currently have in Haiti and start over with a new and functional body –if we really aspire to a new and better Haiti.

This Congress, it is sad to say, is bringing nothing but shame and deception to the land of Dessalines, Toussaint, Christophe and Petion. So, by any means necessary, democratic or otherwise, we need to retire it urgently before it is too late. Retiring this Congress is just as urgent as unclogging a clogged artery so that the tissues of a specific organ it is there to irrigate can be perfused before the undesirable occurs.

These two chambers of the legislative branch of our government are instruments put in place by ARISTIDE and PREVAL to destroy the country. They are saturated with their vassals -criminals, drug dealers, thieves, crooks, ignorant and unqualified heads, etc. Their only qualification to accede to these respectable chambers was to pledge allegiance to their bosses, ARISTIDE and PREVAL, not to the republic and the people that elected them.

So basically, These two LAVALAS guys, ARISTIDE and PREVAL, during their twenty years in power, have done to the country the same thing they had been blaming the Duvaliers for, which is vasalizing all the institutions. That’s why they do not have the moral authority and political leverage to take legal actions against Jean Claude Duvalier curently living peacefully in his country. To prosecute Duvalier is to prosecute the two of them.

Institutions are made of people, and they are the reflection of the people inside them. A better way to look at it is like this: Tell me who you have to body your institutions, I will tell you how effective and functional they are.

Some of these people in our legislature can barely read, let alone comprehending the wording of and logic embedded in the articles of the Constitution, how can you expect them to legislate in total knowledge of the law? Haitians, seriously, are these folks the best you have to offer? Where are the highly qualified and honest Haitians? How did we end up with these guys as our representatives?

Well, I don’t know. Maybe I am expecting too much from a group of people for whom the mess seems to be working and to whom the filth seems to be beneficial.

It is not my fault that I am holding these guys to such higher standards; it is that the little bit I know in politics, I have acquired that in the United States. In other words, the only model I have of how government institutions work and are structured and staffed, I have obtained that in the country where everything seems to be working for its people, and that is the United States of America.

The lesson all political junkies like myself have to learn from observing the Haitian legislature is this: When you have crooks, thieves, drug dealers and politically illiterate folks in your political institutions, you have the Haitian model, you have what is happening now in Haiti -a case study of a politically, economically and socially dead country due to its lifeless institutions.