Supporters of Haitian presidential candidate René Preval yell slogans during a protest in front of the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince, in this February 14 file photo. Haiti declared Preval president on Thursday after authorities agreed to throw out 85,000 'blank' votes from last week's election. GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):
Haiti's re-entry into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is on the horizon, Secretary General Dr Edwin Carrington, said Thursday.
"We were informed that the election in Haiti has resulted in a choice of a president and now we are ready to receive Haiti back into the institutions of the Caribbean Community," Carrington said.
Rene Preval's victory at the recent polls has removed the major hurdle which jeopardised the re-entry process into CARICOM.
"We will now have a government that is duly and democratically elected by the people of Haiti, and we will now sit with Haiti to discuss the conditions of its re-entry into CARICOM," Carrington said.
climate ripe
With the 18-month expiration of the moratorium Haiti requested to meet its obligations to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and its exclusion from the regional body at an end, Carrington said the climate is ripe for Haiti's re-entry pending "discussions taking place."
"We now have to sit with Haiti on this and other issues, including how are they prepared to come on board with that (Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which it has not signed) and what is the process of acceding to the various elements of the Single Market."
"These are all questions still to be answered, but none was more difficult than the one that has just been surmounted.
"I think with the goodwill and the commitment and the fact that legally, Haiti is already a member of the community, I think we will easily settle those problems," Carrington said.
wonderful moment
"It's just a wonderful moment," the CARICOM Secretary General commented.
Meanwhile Guyana's parliamentary Opposition Leader Robert Corbin described Preval's electoral victory as a triumph for democracy.
"I believe that democracy has reigned and we believe that it is a very good sign that the people of Haiti have been able to settle their matters in a democratic way," Corbin commented.
"What I think is very instructive is the pains that they took to ensure that they got a good voters list," he said.
"Haiti even invited people from the Electoral Office of Jamaica to help them and I hope we can learn from that experience in our upcoming elections," he said.
