It is time to put an end to official acts in French and nighttime speeches in Creole.
There are of course the expected signals in terms of general policy.
In areas where the pain is too great, the evils too deep to ask society to wait. The economic conditions of the masses, crime, education, the almost destroyed health system. All the measures to be taken on the “major issues”.
But there are also signals to be given to demonstrate a change in the atmosphere and in the relationship of the “leaders” to power and the population. They may seem secondary, but they are not. They bear witness to a reality in the exercise of power and it is often on them that the ordinary citizen bases his perception and judgment.
The economic conditions of the masses, crime, education, the health system almost destroyed.
The PHTK era, for example, has returned to a strong sign of the Duvalier dictatorship : the fury of the processions which threaten everything, sometimes crushing without stopping.
Read also: The “Duvaliers” in Haitian History: Crimes, Executions and Injustice
What is more annoying for a citizen than to feel threatened and to be practically jostled by a trail of vehicles whose number seems unnecessarily imposing? The phenomenon of processions has never been anything but a way for corrupt and inefficient powers to signal their presence and their strength, which we would have preferred to see them exercise otherwise.
The question of police impunity is also a major question.
We must not be afraid to talk about it. To keep quiet about it would be to continue a policy of contempt for citizens and police officers. Police officers who are often sent to the slaughterhouse. Police officers who have not been given the means to do their job. In compensation, they have been given “the right” to do whatever they want to civilians and to use their badges and weapons to commit abuses and grant themselves privileges. Citizens, particularly in working-class neighborhoods, suffer too much from this impunity and it contributes to the disorder in the administration.
Read also: Police impunity in Haiti raises concerns as we await international force
In its legal and administrative acts, it is also important that the CPT and the government respect constitutional bilingualism. In this respect, the CTP has not been exemplary so far. The principle of a State with two languages is an inclusive approach. It is time to put an end to official acts in French and nighttime speeches in Creole. Imposing and implementing bilingualism in the civil service and the management of public affairs would be a major sign of change and respect for the basic rights of the population.
So many things that would constitute positive signs…
We cannot name them all. But there is one that is fundamental. Putting some restraint in the speeches of political leaders, and making sure that these speeches speak first to Haitians. The PHTK, in all its variants, has never done anything but speak into the void or to others than us. And giving a sign that we are in dialogue not only with the powerful, but with everyone. In this sense, I am one of those who see a negative signal in the eagerness, even before the appointment of a government, that the Prime Minister showed to meet “friends of the international community”, the “employer sector” nevertheless represented in the Presidential Council, but not the unions or other civil and popular structures.
Par Lyonel Trouillot
Cover image: Prime Minister Garry Conille and the current President of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), Edgard Leblanc Fils, on June 12, 2024, at the Villa d’Acceuil, in Musseau, during the installation ceremony of the PM and members of the government. | © X/@MCHaiti
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Poet, novelist, literary critic and screenwriter, Lyonel Trouillot studied law.
