Surprise Us, Gentlemen!

This centennial year of American occupation, Haiti finds itself unable to take care of its own affairs, just like at the beginning of the 20th century. By Monday, Jan. 12, it’s once again the diplomats from the United States of America who will stop the fate of our country by fully engaging themselves in the course of events. That doesn’t mean that Haitians are not masters of their destiny; just that as in 1915, they are unable to come together on the bare minimum necessary to keep the nation and government moving forward.

By deciding to understand that Michel Martelly has done everything to avoid institutional chaos by leading the last negotiations in good faith, the U.S. State Department will encourage the president to notice the inability of the parliament to act, and the whole world will take note. This will allow President Martelly to smoothly finish his term, even under heightened surveillance.

By sharing the opinion of political parties of the opposition and parliament members of the radical wing who do not accept the guarantees offered — the renunciations and engagements announced by Michel Martelly as sufficient proofs of his good will — Americans will rush the events, which could lead to an early end of “Tet Kale’s”* term.

The U.S. and international community can also dismiss the belligerents and force the actors to get along at minimum from now until the end of January. In such a scenario, a political agreement would allow for shortening the delays and procedures to get out of the crisis. Another option will be to allow the president to give two or three decrees in order to go to the elections, while giving pledges to the fractions of the opposition that wish to play the democratic game.

All options are possible. The street cannot impose anything between now and Jan. 12, and the executive can’t allow himself to get through by force. Today, all the camps overstep the mark. They hope that on Jan. 12, the “white man” will be on their side. Who knows where the “white man” will be on that day?

Both at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, Haitian politicians did everything to have foreign powers on their side. At that time, we were offering the adjacent islands, Mole-St-Nicolas, the control of our customs. An occupation (1915-1934), three American interventions (1994, 2004, 2010), and two long United Nations missions later, leaders and opponents no longer have bargaining chips. They simply hope that under the scrutiny of Haiti’s friends, they will seem adequate enough to have the support of powerful nations. That takes away some flexibility, and nevertheless, straightening out a political animal in Haiti is as complicated as predicting when an earthquake will hit us again.

This weekend, in addition to thinking about our loved ones who died in January 2010, we should also think about the continued disappearance of common sense and the sense of public good among the ranks of the opposition, as well as among the ranks of those who govern us. Haiti’s resume, five years after the earthquake and the last elections, is pitiful.

The long pre-electoral crisis, which we hope to unravel in one sense or another in the hours to come, is not the premise of the electoral crisis to come, and that of after the elections, when the results will inevitably be contested.

Things being what they are … as Charles de Gaulle, the general and French statesman, liked to say, “Surprise us, for once, gentlemen!”

*Note: Tet Kale, which means bald-headed, is a Haitian Creole term used for someone who is bald. The Haitian president is called Tet Kale because he is bald.