Author Archives: Emann Joasil

Jun 20 2015

The Expulsion of Jacky Lumarque From The Presidential Race Is Too Little Too Late

Jacky Lumarque of the Verite Party

Jacky Lumarque of the Verite Party

The Provisional Electoral Council (PEC), the nine-member institution commissioned to organize free, credible, transparent and inclusive elections in Haiti, has issued yesterday afternoon a press release to inform the population in general and the political parties in particular that Jacky LUMARQUE, the representative of the Verite Party, the party of former President Preval, in the race has been expelled for not having his discharge certificate, a requirement made by the electoral decree in its Article 90 paragraph (h).

The expulsion of Lumarque –from the list of the candidates accredited by the (PEC) to participate in the upcoming presidential election –is too little too late. It is nothing but a farce or intrigue orchestrated by Martelly and Preval to delude or baffle the people’s vigilance and make them believe that the electoral institution can be trusted to equitably fulfill its mission. We are not going to fall for that.

According to Rudolph Boulos, five of the nine members of the council receive their orders directly from Preval. In other words, it is partially controlled by a very influential leader of a political party –the supreme leader of the Verite Party. So we do not trust the institution to organize free, credible, transparent, inclusive and democratic elections in the country.

While the Provisional Electoral Council is at it, while they are cleaning up the house by excluding from the presidential race those candidates not having their discharge certificate, we are asking them not to forget to apply the same rules to these councilmembers –Pierre-Louis Opont, former General Manager of the PEC that had organized the 2010 elections; Marie Carmelle Paul-Austin, former Education Minister; Yolette Menguale and Nehemie Joseph, members of the previous PEC –who too need to have their clearance papers. Their presence in the institution violates Article 90 of the electoral decree. They cannot be enforcing a law which they are not in conformity with. Without their proper discharge papers, they have no business to be in the institution pushing candidates away for lacking the same piece of document as them.

This Provisional Electoral Council has no credibility to organize the elections; it does not inspire trust. We do not trust it to honorably fulfill its mission, which is to organize free, credible, transparent and inclusive elections in the country. We do not feel safe participating in these elections, not when we know that the institution is controlled by rival political parties. We want democratic elections in the country, not a SELECTION where the winners are already decided –without the full participation of the population.

Jun 17 2015

President Martelly Has Made a Mockery of Himself

President Martelly and former Prime Minister Lamothe not looking too happy.

President Martelly and former Prime Minister Lamothe not looking too happy.

In an article entitled Michel Martelly: “J’avais dit à Sophia et à Lamothe qu’ils ne pouvaient pas être candidats à la presidence” [in English, Michel Martelly: “I had told Sophia and Lamothe they could not be presidential candidates”] published on Monday, June 15, 2015 in Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s only daily newspaper, President Martelly stated: “I had instructed Lamothe that he would not be my candidate for president because I had realized that we were going to have elections with political parties not so comfortable with the idea of him being my candidate, which would give him the competitive edge over his opponents. It was important for me to instill trust in the candidates and credibility in the system so that everyone would believe they could win.”

What a load of charade! Who are his political advisers? If this strategy came from his gang of advisers, all of them ought to be fired? I do not want to think he had acted on his own, without consulting with his advisers on political affairs. I really do not want to think that.

How do you instill trust and credibility in an electoral system, Mr. President?

That’s the one-million-dollar question we need to answer. Mr. President, you instill trust and credibility in an electoral system by making sure that the electoral institution operates in full transparency and fairness, which will level the playing field for all the players in the game. As the guarantor of all the state institutions, Mr. President, that is part of your constitutional prerogatives.

It is expected of every sitting president to choose someone in their entourage who is electable [with a positive track record] to represent their party in an electoral contest. It was expected of President George H. W. Bush to endorse Vice President Dan Quayle for president; it was expected of President Bill Clinton to endorse Vice President Al Gore’s candidacy for president to succeed him. For the sake of ideological continuity, Mr. President, that is what sitting presidents are expected to do. And doing so would not compromise in any shape or form trust and credibility in the electoral system itself.

It is like telling me you are the general of an army going to war with a potential enemy and decide to leave behind your best warriors, those you can count on to take your army to victory. What kind of a general are you, and what kind of a battle strategy are you executing?

Choosing Lamothe would not have guaranteed him a win. For him to win, he would have relied on his political astuteness to put together a winning strategy. Since I have been following presidential politics, I have witnessed candidates endorsed by sitting presidents losing elections all the time. The opposition could have won running against Lamothe. They would have bet on the effectiveness of their campaign strategy to frame their political arguments against him.

Further down in the article, almost close to the end, he said about Lamothe: “Lamothe may have more ardor than me and be more hi-tech than I am, but be careful; it’s neither being hi-tech nor having money that makes me but rather my profundity and grandeur.”

Was this statement necessary, seriously? This is puerile thinking, to say the least. It really downgrades the president’s character. It shows me that he is not concerned about the future of the country; he is more concerned about his ego, his delusion of grandeur.

Nothing stops Martelly from being hi-tech. He can always be so if he wants. In that statement, he comes across as someone who is envious of Lamothe for who he is and what he is. There is a level grotesqueness we do not expect our heads of state to stoop to.

Mr. President, with all due respect, you have made a blunder. Please admit it. Find a better excuse to justify your decision next time. And until you find one that makes sense, you should not be talking to the press on that matter, for the more you do, the more you will be making ridiculous and embarrassing revelations.

Jun 14 2015

Contact Your US Senators and Ask Them to Stop Financing the SELECTION Martelly and His Cronies in the Provisional Electoral Council Are Preparing

ACT

President Martelly and his cronies in the Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) are preparing to kidnap and rape our democracy –the democracy thousands of our brothers and sisters have died for over the years.

Instead of organizing free, fair and inclusive elections to allow the people to choose their leaders, these enemies of our democracy are organizing a SELECTION, in total violation of our civil and political rights, and want to force it down our throats.

The Provisional Electoral Council –the institution put together to organize free, fair and inclusive elections in the country –has been vassalized and used as a political instrument [by these enemies of our democracy] to bar for POLITICAL REASONS former Prime Minister Lamothe from running for president. Mind you, he is the solid front-runner in the race.

Since we do not believe in violence –“kraze brize,” burning tires and terrorist activities to make our voices heard –we are going to use the nonviolent and most effective approach to pressure Martelly and his goons in the PEC to correct their misstep, faux pas, blunder or impropriety.

We believe that if we could cut the money supply financing this masquerade SELECTION, there is no way they can move forward with it. The way we are going to do that is simple. We are going to click on the attached link and locate our senators’ names, their phone numbers and email addresses. We are going to either call their offices or write them a simple note to denounce what President Martelly and his subjects in the PEC are doing in Haiti. We are going to ask them to stop financing the SELECTION in Haiti; we demand and deserve free, fair, inclusive and democratic elections.

The blatant abuse of power going on in Haiti can only perpetuate if and only if we the people do not take action. We have the power to change the political dynamics in the country, so let’s stop complaining and take action. The tax dollars of the American people must not be used to finance a masquerade SELECTION that does not represent their value system.

Jun 13 2015

The Provisional Electoral Council Is Preparing a SELECTION in Haiti

Vote Haiti

The Provisional Electoral Council (PEC) in Haiti, the institution formed ad hoc to organize the upcoming elections, is preparing a SELECTION, in total disregard of the civil and political rights of the Haitian people.

Honest, credible and law-abiding candidates have seen their candidacies rejected by the PEC for political reasons.

The Haitian people demand fair, credible, transparent and inclusive elections –the way it should be done in a democracy –to guarantee political stability and economic growth and development. I do not think that is too much to ask.

So we are calling on the international community, mainly the United States, co-financing these elections to stand for what is right and make certain that the democratic rights of the people are respected. Millions of dollars should not be wasted in financing bogus and undemocratic elections in Haiti.

Feb 23 2015

Kenny Desmangles Should Join Disip

Some people may have assumed, unrightfully so, that I have an issue with Kenny F. Desmangles, especially after they had read my commentaries on his decision to leave Zenglen.

Not at all and absolutely not. I do not have an issue with the artist. The thing is, though, I admire his talent too much to be able to tell him what others won’t –maybe for the sake of complacency, or they want to tell him what he wants to hear [even when what he wants to hear is very destructive for his music career].

Like me or not, I have one obligation, and that is to tell you the honest truth. Now, what you choose to do with it, after I put it out raw to you, is your business.

It has been noise that the artist’s next move beyond Zenglen could be his solo career, especially after he had dropped this banging solo album entitled Full Sèvis [I highly recommend it; it’s very good].

Well, I object to such idea for the simple fact that going solo in Konpa is recipe for career suicide. He needs to be in a band. Otherwise, he can kiss his music career goodbye.

Before all you Konpa analysts refute my objection, I want you to tell me one Konpa solo artist who made it in the business. Well, for the sake of being optimistic, maybe Kenny will be the first to defy the norm; you never know.

Another chatter out there has it that he will reassemble 509. If this is, indeed, his plan going forward, he needs to be very honest with himself and his supporters to see if this is the best and most advantageous move for him. If I were to advise him, I would tell him not to let his short-sightedness and foolish ambitions guide him to embark on this dead-end journey.

Okay, Emann Joasil, you don’t think going solo or reconstructing 509 is the best decision for him, we understand that. But what in your opinion he should do?

Good question! As I briefly stated earlier, he needs to be in a band. There is absolutely no question about that. But which one of them, though? That is exactly the million-dollar question we need to tackle.

In my opinion, Disip is the perfect fit for him. What makes you think so, Emann Joasil?

Okay, let me explain. In Disip he will be next to Gazzman Couleur, a career vocalist, a superstar, someone having nothing to prove anymore in the business and with whom he will not have to worry about finding himself in competition for stardom and influence. Any of these other bands he would integrate, he will find himself caught up in futile, childish, and stupid competition with this other vocalist he will be standing next to, which will have negative drawbacks on the band’s upward progression and forward mobility. That’s a sad reality we cannot overlook if we want to be accurate in our analysis.

Also, in Disip these two guys will establish a complementary relationship –exactly like it was in Nu Look with Gazzman and Arly –which will make it possible for the two of them to shine together. He complements Gazzman just like Gazzman complements him. Gazzman is a stage animal, he is not quite. Yet, he is a great producer, arranger and composer; Gazzman is not quite. He can handle the Konpa Love tunes better than Gazzman can [I presume]; Gazzman can handle the uptempo tunes way better than he can [I presume]. That is what is called a complementary relationship.

Kenny Desmangles will have to come out some time soon to tell us what his next move will be. I am hoping he makes the best move for himself. In the meantime, I am calling on Gazzman to meet up with him for lunch to talk business. Gazzman needs to make him a juicy or sweet offer he cannot refuse, and it must be on paper.

We have to conserve and protect the artist. It will hurt me to see such a talent vanishing in the firmament like so many talented artists before him because of “bad” decisions. I have nothing to gain in his success or lose in his failure. As a concerned observer and lover of Konpa, I was only brainstorming on a situation that pertains to a young artist of my generation. That’s all. Well, what do I know?

Dec 30 2014

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 26,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

By Emann Joasil • Posted in Home
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Dec 30 2014

2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 32,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 12 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

By Emann Joasil • Posted in Home
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Dec 30 2014

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 57,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 13 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

By Emann Joasil • Posted in Home
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Dec 28 2014

Platfòm Pitit Desalin Se Yon Òganizasyon Rasis

Yon gwoup sipòtè ap leve anlè Senatè Moise Jean-Charles, lidè Platfòm Pitit Desalin an

Yon gwoup sipòtè ap leve anlè Senatè Moise Jean-Charles, lidè Platfòm Pitit Desalin an

Estrikti politik sa a ki rele PLATFÒM PITIT DESALIN an, ki gen Moise Jean-Charles kòm lidè li, depi sou jan li rele a, nou di ke li se yon gwoupman rasis ki fonde sou yon filozofi rasis.

Òganizasyon politik sa a pran nesans apati de eslogan politik rasis sa a –Pitit Desalin kont Pitit Petyon –ke moun opozisyon #Lavalas yo te konn ap klewone nan manifestasyon rache manyòk yo te konn ap fè nan lari Pòtoprens yo.

Eslogan “Pitit Desalin kont Pitit Petyon” sa a vle di ke moun sa yo ke po yo nwa nan sosyete a se pitit Desalin, e moun po klè yo [grimo ak grimèl yo] se pitit Petyon. Alòs moun po nwa yo pa fèt pou danse kole ak moun po klè yo; moun po nwa yo sipoze konsidere tèt yo kòm ènmi moun po klè yo.

N ap mande pou tout Ayisyen alawonnbadè kanpe lwen gwoupman politik sila. Nou pa nan danse kole avèk okenn òganizasyon oubyen politisyen rasis k ap chèche mete divizyon nan mitan nou pou yo ka regle zafè pèsonèl zwit yo.

Yo di y ap fè avanse ideyal Papa Desalin an, men sa yo pa arive konprann sè ke Papa Desalin pa t janm kont pitit tè a –ke li te ti wouj, ke li te ti nwa.

Papa Desalin te yon rasanblè, yon moun ki t ap rale tout kalite moun vin sou li. Misye se te yon Papa bon kè ki te kont enjistis, divizyon, chirepit, destabilizasyon, rayisans, elatriye. Alòs m pa wè kijan y ap fè avanse rèv Papa Desalin an pandan ke se divizyon sou baz rasyal oubyen etnik y ap pouse pou pi devan nan sosyete a.

Nou tout nan sosyete a pa ka sanble menm jan; nou tout nan sosyete a pa ka gen menm koulè po; nou tout nan sosyete a pa ka nan menm klas sosyal; nou tout nan sosyete a pa ka nan menm nivo sosyoekonomik. Divèsite pa janm fè tò a limanite. Okontrè, divèsite se pito sous lavi a.

Nan moman sa yo ki sot pase la yo, nou tande tout kalite de pawòl. Nou tande “Desalin pral kay Petyon;” nou tande “Desalin pral bwè soup joumou kay Petyon;” nou tande “Desalin pral chèche kado Nowèl kay Petyon.” Se komsi yo vle di nou gen 2 Ayiti –youn pou pitit Desalin yo [moun po nwa yo] epi lòt la pou pitit Petyon yo [moun po klè yo].

Jan de pawòl demagojik, pawòl rasis, pawòl tèt anba, pawòl degrenngòch sa yo, nou te konn tande yo nan diskou Aristide yo deja [nèg anba kont nèg anwo; ti nwa kont ti wouj; nèg tèt grenn kont nèg cheve siwo; wòch nan solèy kont wòch nan dlo]. Se vye pawòl divizyon sa yo ki mete peyi a nan sa l ye jounen jodi a. Depi 1991 nou te koupe fache avèk pawòl sa yo, yo pa p retounen nan figi nou ankò.

Se nan lane 2014 nou ye wi, mezanmi. Nou pa panse li lè pou nou rele sou kò nou? Nou pa ka kite Moise Jean-Charles, yon eleman ki pa wè pi lwen pase pwent nen li, ap fè nou fè tenten. Si n ap chèche yon moun ki pou lidè nou, omwen, chèche yon moun ki eklere, ki wè pi lwen pase pwent nen li, ki gen lanmou nan kè l tankou Papa Desalin, e ki pa rasis.

Nou se yon sèl pèp ki kondane pou nou viv ansanm. Nou se yon sèl nasyon ki soude youn ak lòt an depi de diferans sosyoekonomik, filozofik, ideyolojik, relijye ak etnik nou. Plis nou rete ini, se pi djanm n ap vin pi djanm.

Nou sèmante 77 fwa 7 fwa pou n pa kite okenn òganizasyon politik bidon oubyen politisyen tèt chat vin mete nou dozado. Se nan tèt kole, lapè ak fratènite n ap jwenn wout pwogrè ak devlopman dirab la, ke n ap chèche depi digdantan an.

Platfòm Pitit Desalin sa a se yon òganizasyon rasis ke li ye. Li pa p mennen nou okenn kote ki pi bon ke nan tchouboum sa a ke nou ye jounen jodi a. Se kèk atoufè ak brasè ki mete kanpe yon gwoupman politik bidon pou yo ka regle zafè pèsonèl yo sou do pèp. Si nou entelijan, e m konnen nou entelijan, n ap bay òganizasyon politik bidon sa a yon bwa long kenbe.

Dec 28 2014

Should Moise Jean-Charles Be Reelected To The Haitian Senate?

The job of a senator in any country’s senate is mainly to champion legislations that could better the lives of his/her constituents. This same definition does apply to all of our senators in the Haitian Senate, including Moise Jean-Charles, the senator from the country’s Northern District.

In light of that, has Moise Jean-Charles fulfilled successfully, commendably and honorably his legislative mission or responsibility? That’s a very good question, one that can be the object of a serious debate among the people in his constituency.

Depending on whom the question is directed to, the answer will be different. Some will say “yes,” some will say “no.” But regardless who wins this debate, one thing we know for certain is that we the people from the other districts did not send him to the Senate. So it does not come to us to make such determination.

With responsibility comes accountability –an important concept in public service and everything else in life. When you have the responsibility to do something, you must be held accountable. And that is exactly what is missing in the world of Haitian politics.

In Haiti, we have a representative democracy, meaning instead of having the entire 10 million of us talking about the issues that matter to us, we delegate people to do the job for us. And these people are in the country’s Parliament.  We call them senators and deputies.

So when you elect someone to represent you, when you delegate authority to someone to talk on your behalf and defend your interests, you have the utmost responsibility to hold that person accountable. And the fact that we do not have a culture of accountability in our politics, that poses a major hindrance or impediment to our democracy and, by proxy, the forward progression and upward mobility of our nation.

Now, let’s directly address the people from the Northern District, the people who elected Moise Jean-Charles to represent them in the country’s Senate. Your senator [Moise Jean-Charles] will be running for reelection, I presume. He will be coming to you to ask you to reelect him.  If you people are not a bunch of airheads, before you cast that vote to renew his employment contract to send him back to the Senate, you will evaluate his legislative report card to see the bills he had sponsored and cosponsored during his tenure as Senator of the Republic.

You people from the Northern District sent the man to the Senate, so it comes to you to evaluate and hold him accountable. The rest of us from the other districts cannot do your job for you; he is not running for the presidency –a statewide office. If he is going to run for president, then that will be a different story. But for now, if ever he decides to run for reelection, if ever he comes before you to ask for a renewal of his employment contract, you must exercise the power of your vote to deliberate on his legislative accomplishments. That, at the very least, is expected of you; that is your civic duty.