By Ira J. Kurzban, The Miami Herald

Imag­ine if the Fed­eral Elec­tion Com­mis­sion in the United States dis­qual­i­fied the Demo­c­ra­tic and Repub­li­can par­ties from the 2012 pres­i­den­tial elec­tion and declared that only can­di­dates of minor par­ties could run. No one would con­sider it a fair elec­tion, and cer­tainly the peo­ple of the United States would rise up, claim­ing the elec­tion is uncon­sti­tu­tional and undemocratic.

Yet the upcom­ing pres­i­den­tial and par­lia­men­tary elec­tions in Haiti on Nov. 28 are just that — unfair, uncon­sti­tu­tional and unde­mo­c­ra­tic. The country’s Pro­vi­sional Elec­toral Coun­cil, which itself is not con­sti­tu­tion­ally com­posed, is refus­ing to allow the country’s major­ity party — Famni Lavalas (Lavalas Fam­ily) — to par­tic­i­pate in the elec­tion. Thir­teen other legit­i­mate polit­i­cal par­ties are also being excluded from par­lia­men­tary elections.

The Famni Lavalas Party, headed by for­mer Pres­i­dent Jean Bertrand Aris­tide, won the last demo­c­ra­tic elec­tion it was allowed to par­tic­i­pate in by over­whelm­ing mar­gins. In May 2000, when Pres­i­dent René Pré­val was in his first term, the party won vir­tu­ally all the seats in the lower house of Par­lia­ment, the state houses and local gov­ern­ments. It won most of the seats in the Hait­ian Sen­ate and the pres­i­dency. Since the Feb­ru­ary 2004 coup, Famni Lavalas has been banned from par­tic­i­pat­ing in Hait­ian politics.

The cur­rent Pro­vi­sional Elec­toral Coun­cil, hand-picked by Pres­i­dent Pré­val, has fab­ri­cated a new eli­gi­bil­ity require­ment to dis­qual­ify Famni Lavalas from the pres­i­den­tial elec­tions. This new rule requires that the head of each party reg­is­ter pres­i­den­tial can­di­dates in person.

Pres­i­dent Aris­tide, how­ever, is exiled in South Africa where a tacit agree­ment between many gov­ern­ments keeps him there. While the great pow­ers have main­tained a code of silence con­cern­ing Aris­tide and his right to return to his own coun­try, they are fever­ishly work­ing, with the com­plic­ity of the South African gov­ern­ment, to ensure that he does not return. At the same time, the gov­ern­ment of Haiti has refused to renew Aristide’s pass­port to allow him to return to Haiti to reg­is­ter his party.

These polit­i­cal maneu­vers are not lost on Haiti’s peo­ple. While the main­stream media in the United States focuses on whether Wyclef Jean may run for pres­i­dent or what Sean Penn thinks of Jean’s can­di­dacy, the Hait­ian peo­ple refuse to play the fool. Indeed, they know the pres­i­den­tial elec­tion that will be imposed on them has noth­ing to do with democracy.

They will, as they did in 2005, only sup­port a pres­i­den­tial can­di­date who will bring Aris­tide and Famni Lavalas back to the Hait­ian elec­toral sys­tem. With Famni Lavalas out of the race, the elec­tion will have extremely low turnout, which inter­na­tional “author­i­ties” will pre­dictably say is “the best one can expect” given the earthquake.

The result is a faux elec­tion that will have last­ing con­se­quences for Haiti and the inter­na­tional community.

It will under­mine the stated goal of the United States and its allies to achieve “sta­bil­ity” in Haiti, and it will under­mine the legit­i­macy and sus­tain­abil­ity of a cen­tral Hait­ian gov­ern­ment that is not elected by, but for, the people.

In a report to the U.S. Sen­ate For­eign Rela­tions Com­mit­tee, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., called upon Pres­i­dent Pré­val to restruc­ture the Pro­vi­sional Elec­toral Coun­cil and ensure the par­tic­i­pa­tion of oppo­si­tion par­ties, includ­ing Famni Lavalas. With­out this, Lugar argued, the Novem­ber elec­tions will lack cred­i­bil­ity. Lugar warned, “The absence of demo­c­ra­t­i­cally elected suc­ces­sors could poten­tially plunge the coun­try into chaos.”

Fair, inclu­sive elec­tions — that include the par­tic­i­pa­tion of Famni Lavalas and other legit­i­mate polit­i­cal par­ties and respect for the right of all exiles to return, includ­ing Aris­tide — are essen­tial for estab­lish­ing a Hait­ian gov­ern­ment with the legit­i­macy and capac­ity to effec­tively man­age the country’s recon­struc­tion. Set­tling for elec­tions that are less than fair and inclu­sive might seem expe­di­ent in the short term, but in the mid– and long-term accept­ing flawed elec­tions will ensure civil strife and polit­i­cal con­tro­versy. It will imperil inter­na­tional com­mu­nity invest­ments in Haiti while leav­ing the coun­try vul­ner­a­ble to the next nat­ural, eco­nomic or polit­i­cal disaster.

If we believe in spread­ing democ­racy through­out the world, it is dif­fi­cult to under­stand the code of silence by the United States and other nations that sup­port the dis­en­fran­chise­ment of the Hait­ian peo­ple by elim­i­nat­ing the major­ity party in the election.

Ira J. Kurzban was the gen­eral coun­sel in the United States for the Repub­lic of Haiti for 13 years dur­ing the Aris­tide and first Pré­val administrations.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/08/1813042/unfair-and-undemocratic.html#ixzz0yzMoYchx