When Jocelerme Privert, the interim president of Haiti, was asked if he was keeping up with the presidential campaign in the U.S., he thought the question was about the election problems in his country. It wasn’t a big misunderstanding. Both countries are experiencing difficulties and controversy, although things appear to be worse in Haiti.
“My role as the provisional president of Haiti is to bring the people together and to create a government of consensus,” Privert said through a translator Thursday in Midtown Manhattan. “And to create best conditions for a credible and reliable elections for a new government elected by the people.”
That consensus will have to wait, because the elections planned for April 24 have been suspended. After explaining the two previous cancellations of the elections, Privert said that April 24 was the new date “if all conditions were met, meaning a new government and new electoral council … now that those conditions have been met and a new election calendar has been delivered, the elections will occur between May 15 and May 31.”
Privert, a former head of the Haitian Parliament, was elected the interim president when Michel Martelly stepped down in February. Martelly had been the president for five years. From the date of his election a week after Martelly resigned, Privert has 120 days to confirm a consensus prime minister.
Of equal importance to Privert is the three-year-long drought and food shortage that affects 2.5 million people. “This is exactly why I’m here in New York,” he said. “We need international donors and investors in the agricultural sector of Haiti, especially in the food security.”
He said that conditions are different from one part of the country to another. “While one part of the country have droughts, another part is experiencing floods,” he explained. “Our food security is affected by both the droughts and the flooding, and that’s why I’m here. Climate change that is affecting the entire world is also a problem for us.”
Haiti is still recovering from the massive earthquake that devastated the country in 2010. The quake was followed by an outbreak of cholera. Then came the hurricane season and now the ongoing problems related to the drought and flooding.
According to the U.S. Embassy, over the past six months, the U.S. has contributed more than $21.9 million to assist households in Haiti affected by the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon.
Peter Mulrean, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, said, “The United States continues to firmly support the Haitian families … to meet their needs for emergency food, nutrition, and water.” He said the U.S. will also continue to assist in the nation’s agricultural production “and during bad weather, in situation of political turmoil and financial difficulties.”