By Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, chairman of CARICOM, emphasises a point at Jamaica House, Hope Road, St. Andrew yesterday while briefing journalists about the political impasse in Haiti.
- Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) chairman, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, has written to the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council, requesting the intervention of a U.N.-led peacekeeping force in the ongoing civil unrest in Haiti.
Emphasising CARICOM's condemnation of the breakdown of law and order in Haiti, the Prime Minister told reporters yesterday that he has placed Foreign Affairs Minister K.D. Knight on standby to participate in talks at the U.N. in New York.
"If a decision has to be taken by the Security Council, we would expect discussions to commence before the end of this week," he emphasised.
Rebel forces have been forging across Haiti, and have vowed to take the capital Port-au-Prince and eventually full control of the country, where more than 70 persons have died in recent weeks. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has vowed to resist.
Foreign nationals and Haitians have been fleeing the fighting, and yesterday Air Jamaica announced that it was suspending flights to Haiti and its neighbour the Dominican Republic until March 6.
Speaking to journalists after a briefing at Jamaica House, Mr. Patterson reiterated CARICOM's position that the regional grouping would not support the unconstitutional removal of the government of any member-state.
"We will not recognise any government that comes to office by unconstitutional or illegitimate means," he stated. "We think it is very important, particularly in the case of Haiti, where we are seeking to support a fledgling democracy, that the principle of that constitution be fully observed."
Prime Minister Patterson was speaking on the same day the governing People's National Party (PNP) responded to Opposition Leader Edward Seaga's suggestion that the Haitian president should resign.
The PNP's International Affairs Commission said yesterday that it was alarmed by the comments made by the Opposition Leader and noted with concern his "silence on the atrocities being wreaked on innocent citizens in Haiti."
ARISTIDE ASKING FOR HELP
Just a day earlier, Mr. Seaga had said that a multilateral force should be recruited to restore peace, but on the condition that the Haitian president resign. The Opposition Leader claimed that the weakness of the recently-signed Kingston Accord is that Mr. Aristide "does not have the political strength to sustain his position."
In addition, he said, "international political support by way of multilateral consensus will not enable him to survive."
Mr. Patterson says President Aristide had written to him, seeking CARICOM's help in strengthening the 4,500-strong police force in a country of nearly eight million.
With the Haitian opposition yesterday rejecting a power-sharing solution, the necessity of an international peacekeeping force entering the French-speaking nation has taken on renewed urgency.
Mr. Patterson said he was unable to predict when the Security Council would make a final decision, but added that CARICOM was pressing that body to deal urgently with the matter.
He pointed out that the recent CARICOM Action Plan had been endorsed by the United States, France, Canada, the OAS, and the European Union. He said CARICOM expected Aristide to abide by the terms, which include making frequent public reports on his adherence to the plan.
The CARICOM chairman said he had also been in direct contact with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, underscoring the need to safeguard democracy and restore law and order in Haiti.
Commenting on the influx of Haitians here, he said Jamaica was forced to accept them under international law, and that the country will keep them here until the political tension subsides in Haiti.
