The Working Group on the Constitution (GTC) officially launched its work this Tuesday, November 12, 2024, in a context of acute crisis. According to a press release, it is under the coordination of Jerry Tardieu, former president of the Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies on the Amendment of the Constitution, that the GTC is committed to developing a new fundamental law for Haiti which reflects the aspirations of the organized sectors and which will be submitted to the popular vote in a referendum.
Made up of nine personalities from the academic and legal world, the GTC brings together personalities with varied backgrounds recognized for their expertise in constitutional law and public administration. They are Jerry Tardieu, Me Eugène Pierre-Louis, the dean of the Faculty of Law of the State University of Haiti; Professor Jean-Robert Charles, president of the Conference of University Rectors and Managers; Me Patrick Pierre-Louis, president of the Bar Association of Port-au-Prince, as well as other experts such as Dr Louis Naud Pierre, Me Guerdy Lissade, lawyer and vice-president of the Haitian Historical Society, of Geography and Geology; Me Norah Amilcar Jean-François, professor of law at UEH; and Ms. Kerlande Mibel, activist for the rights of women and the Haitian diaspora.
The GTC also draws on work already carried out on the constitutional question, including the three major state reports published over the last fifteen years. This, with Professor Claude Moïse as senior consultant. These documents, resulting from national consultations, provide a solid basis to guide the constitutional revision.
Jerry Tardieu recalled that the GTC enjoys total autonomy and will carry out its task patriotic in the interest of Haiti and that no risk of interference, either local or international, will influence its work. At the same time, Enex Jean-Charles, President of the Steering Committee of the national conference, hopes “that the sectors actively participate in the process by participating in the exchange workshops which will take place throughout the country and in the diaspora”.
According to the GTC, the involvement of private and public universities, as neutral spaces to host debates on national issues informed by research and critical reflection, in the work of constitutional revision is a major fact.
In an effort to structure the exchanges, Louis Naud Pierre announced the upcoming distribution of two framework documents intended for the country’s organized sectors to facilitate the discussions to come in the coming months.
The GTP also plans to collect reactions, suggestions and proposals from different sectors in order to draw inspiration from them to propose a constitutional revision, aimed at improving the governance of Haiti by facilitating cooperation between the three powers of the State and avoiding the unproductive dilution of power or excessive concentration that results in harmful authoritarianism.
