DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: As the inauguration of Haiti's president-elect Rene Preval is postponed, he confirms that he will maintain close ties with the United States regarding drug enforcement

Record ID: 858209

  • Title: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: As the inauguration of Haiti's president-elect Rene Preval is postponed, he confirms that he will maintain close ties with the United States regarding drug enforcement
  • Date: 5th March 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) HAITIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT RENE PREVAL, SAYING (FOLLOWED BY SPANISH TRANSLATION) (AUDIO AS INCOMING): "The Constitution of the Republic tells us that the president should say the oath of office before both chambers, that is to say, the senate and the deputies, in front of the National Assembly. In other words, we need to wait until there are chambers in the National Assembly so the president can say the oath in front of the National Assembly."
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Dominican Republic
  • City:
  • Country: Dominican Republic
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAC9UBZUSLF9SBOKMCWI1BLDU85
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: While visiting neighbouring Dominican Republic, Haiti's president-elect Rene Preval confirmed on Friday (March 3) that his inauguration, scheduled for March 29, will be postponed, and revealed that he plans to allow the United States to pursue drug traffickers in his country.
    Preval confirmed the news released Thursday by the country's electoral council that a run-off election for senate and lower chamber seats would not take place as planned on March 19, delaying the installation of Preval's government, the first elected since former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in 2004.
    "The Constitution of the Republic tells us that the president should say the oath of office before both chambers, that is to say, the senate and the deputies, in front of the National Assembly," Preval told reporters in the capital city of Santo Domingo. "In other words, we need to wait until there are chambers in the National Assembly so the president can say the oath in front of the National Assembly."
    No date has been set for the second round of the legislative ballot, in which the two leading candidates for each of 30 senate seats and 99 lower house seats will compete.
    Ex-president Preval, a one-time protégé of Aristide, won a general election on February 7 after fears of violence and widespread suspicions of vote fraud persuaded the electoral authorities to change the way they counted blank ballots and give him a first-round victory.
    Violence, poverty and drugs are blamed for much of the chaos in Haiti. Preval, who acknowledged that his country was used by drug traffickers as a stop between Colombia and the United States, said there is an established mechanism to deal with the problem.
    "Drugs are a worldwide potency," he said. "Because of that, we signed an accord with the world's top power that stipulates -- an accord that was signed during my first mandate that stipulates that the Americans have the right to pursue in Haitian territorial waters or in the territorial state."
    Preval's 2- day visit to the Dominican Republic, Haiti's neighbour on the island on Hispaniola, was his first after being elected president.
    Bilateral relations have long been strained by mistrust and racism but the visit was characterized as friendly by officials from both nations.
    Preval is also expected to travel to Chile, Argentina and Brazil whose countries have deployed troops under the United Nations to help stabilize Haiti.
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