President seeks power-sharing deal for Haiti

Lays out terms such as more power for his job

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — President Jovenel Moise said Friday that he is optimistic that negotiations with a coalition of his political opponents will succeed in forging a power-sharing deal to end months of deadlock that have left Haiti without a functioning government.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Moise laid out his bargaining position in the talks that began last week in the mission of the papal envoy to Haiti with political opponents and some civil society groups. He said he would accept an opposition prime minister and a shortened term in office, but only after adoption of a constitutional reform strengthening the presidency.

Moise said his efforts to improve living conditions for Haiti’s 11 million people had been thwarted during his first three years in office by the constitutional requirement that the National Assembly approve virtually every significant presidential action.

He said he would serve only a single term in office so he would not personally benefit from the powers of a stronger presidency.

“It makes me optimistic to see my brothers and sisters from the political opposition, civil society and religious groups,” he said. “I think we’re at a crossroads.”

Moise, a former banana farmer, won 56 percent of the vote against three opponents in the 2016 election. He made some progress on rural infrastructure projects during his first two years in office. Then the end of subsidized Venezuelan oil aid to Haiti fueled chaos in the Western

Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

Without the help, the economy shrank, and investigations found questionable spending of hundreds of millions of dollars over the years in aid from the Petrocaribe program run by Venezuela.

Protests began over the Petrocaribe misspending and snowballed until Moise’s opponents waged a near-total lockdown of Haiti’s capital for three months last fall.

The demonstrations were accompanied by a constant blocking of Moise’s agenda in the National Assembly.

A small group of opposition legislators blocked Moise proposals with tactics ranging from filibusters to throwing furniture inside the Senate chamber or calling supporters to block governing party senators from accessing the building.

The country was unable to organize legislative elections and the National Assembly shut down last month, leaving Moise without a constitutionally recognized government. He said the constitution allows him to rule by decree with legislative approval, but he is choosing not to in order to forge national unity.

Observers say developed nations that provide Haiti with most of its state budget are highly reluctant to keep funding a government that could be accused of moving toward dictatorship.

Dieu Nalio Chery The Associated Press President Jovenel Moise said Friday that if Haiti’s presidency were strengthened through constitutional reform, he would accept an opposition prime minister.