1/22/2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Street demonstrations demanding the resignation of Haitian President Michel Martelly are continuing in Port-au-Prince while police have reported the emergence of armed groups in the northern part of the country, a development that has added more gravity to the already tense political situation.
Martelly continues to hold talks with sections of the moderate opposition to arrive at an agreement on key issues such as the holding of general and municipal elections.
The police chief of northern Haiti, Mones Auguste, told Efe on Tuesday that police were tracking an armed band that has openly expressed its intention of fighting the government.
“Last week, they blocked the road close to the city of Milot and shouted anti-government slogans and also robbed passengers of their belongings,” said Auguste.
The police chief said that last Thursday the police had a shootout with these groups in their stronghold close to Milot in which one of its leaders died and another was wounded.
Meanwhile, former senator Jean-Charles Moise, a leading opponent of Martelly, described the action against the gang in Milot as a “tactic to set the local population after the political opponents of the government.”
Moise’s critics have, however, accused the ex-senator and one of the main opposition leaders, of having links with the armed groups, a charge he has denied.
Protesters from the poorer neighborhoods of the capital also often threaten to pick up arms in their efforts to topple the government, but opposition protesters insist that is not their intention.
Haitian authorities and moderate parties of the opposition have been negotiating a solution to the political crisis that is threatening the country’s stability and caused former prime minister Laurent Lamonthe to step down.
Moreover, the parliament was dissolved on Jan. 12 due to a failure to extend parliamentary terms.
The most radical sections of the opposition are demanding the immediate resignation of Martelly who they accuse of corruption and a dictatorial approach to running the country.
The parties, which include the Lavalas of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, are calling for the holding of general and municipal elections, last held more than three years ago, to renew a third of the Senate and all of the Chamber of Deputies.
Government officials, for their part, announced the formation of a new Provisional Electoral Council in charge of the organization of the polls.
Several sectors of society with the right to appoint a representative on the nine-member body have already done so.
source
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Street demonstrations demanding the resignation of Haitian President Michel Martelly are continuing in Port-au-Prince while police have reported the emergence of armed groups in the northern part of the country, a development that has added more gravity to the already tense political situation.Martelly continues to hold talks with sections of the moderate opposition to arrive at an agreement on key issues such as the holding of general and municipal elections.
The police chief of northern Haiti, Mones Auguste, told Efe on Tuesday that police were tracking an armed band that has openly expressed its intention of fighting the government.
“Last week, they blocked the road close to the city of Milot and shouted anti-government slogans and also robbed passengers of their belongings,” said Auguste.
The police chief said that last Thursday the police had a shootout with these groups in their stronghold close to Milot in which one of its leaders died and another was wounded.
Meanwhile, former senator Jean-Charles Moise, a leading opponent of Martelly, described the action against the gang in Milot as a “tactic to set the local population after the political opponents of the government.”
Moise’s critics have, however, accused the ex-senator and one of the main opposition leaders, of having links with the armed groups, a charge he has denied.
Protesters from the poorer neighborhoods of the capital also often threaten to pick up arms in their efforts to topple the government, but opposition protesters insist that is not their intention.
Haitian authorities and moderate parties of the opposition have been negotiating a solution to the political crisis that is threatening the country’s stability and caused former prime minister Laurent Lamonthe to step down.
Moreover, the parliament was dissolved on Jan. 12 due to a failure to extend parliamentary terms.
The most radical sections of the opposition are demanding the immediate resignation of Martelly who they accuse of corruption and a dictatorial approach to running the country.
The parties, which include the Lavalas of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, are calling for the holding of general and municipal elections, last held more than three years ago, to renew a third of the Senate and all of the Chamber of Deputies.
Government officials, for their part, announced the formation of a new Provisional Electoral Council in charge of the organization of the polls.
Several sectors of society with the right to appoint a representative on the nine-member body have already done so.
source
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