Many are trying to blame on President Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe for the derailed electoral process in Haiti. The real culprits sit in Haiti’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Chief among them is Senate President Desras. His term expires in the immediate future and he realizes there is little chance of his being reelected as candidates with real qualifications line up to run against him.
Can Senator Desras read or are the rumors true?
Desras is a fragment of garbage left over from the Aristide/Preval disaster. He has used his office to amass a sizeable fortune by selling his support/vote for hundreds of thousands of American dollars (No Haitian Gourdes accepted.) It is important for the International Community to recognize the truth and apply the blame to those who deserve it.
Haiti is struggling with the concept of Democracy, within a society of nearly 10,0000,000 people who don’t have enough to eat, don’t have employments, don’t have adequate educational opportunities, for their children and lack any understanding of the word Democracy or its requirements.
The Senate/Chamber of Deputies are filled with people who do not care for anyone in their community and see their position as a tool to rape the State treasury. Many take large checks from Ministries, such as Education, for projects in their constituencies, then pocket the money.
Senator Desras is one of these.
There was one occasion a couple of years ago when he managed to take something like $300,000, for his support on a subject, which was used to buy his house in Fermath. This is common knowledge but, being Haiti, people simply shrug off this crime and hope to find some cash for themselves.
And, of course, there is Desras alleged involvement with a drug ring that supposedly saw him involved in a money dispute with a guy named Reynald. Reynald was kidnapped and, when released fled to States for safety.
The Americans are aware of this story, but Desras remains one of the many drug dealers sitting behind Parliamentary immunity in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies..
The challenge of cleaning up Haiti’s record, as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, is not going to be accomplished overnight. However, a great leader once said that the longest journey must start with a single step.
Let Haiti’s long journey towards some sort of integrity start with one single step and let this step be the elimination of Senator Desras from the electoral process, at all levels. He is a temporary, but major threat to the Democratic process and will remain as such until his term in office is finished.
He will then be a candidate for the Presidency and this will show him the minute percentage of the population that believes he has any qualifications at all.
By the way, Senator Desras is the guy on the left of the photograph with this article. Moise Jean-Charles is on the left.
