27951: Morse (comment) Politics Manigat style

[corbetre@webster.edu]

_oloffsonram@aol.com_ (mailto:oloffsonram@aol.com)

It's difficult for me to criticize Professor Manigat. He's been a close
friend of my parents for many, many years.

I conceived <the deal> that brought Manigat to the  presidency back in '88.
Looking back, there are two things that I don't quite  understand about that
period.

1) Why, after only four months as President, did Manigat think he  could take
on the army the way he did? Arresting Namphy? It was the Namphy  family that
I went to in order to broker the deal for his presidency.

2) Why did Manigat keep insisting that it was a legitimate  presidency? The
'88 election was a complete fraud. DeRoncerey(sp?) would have  won had the
ballots been counted and most of the other candidates had  boycotted.

Personally, I think it's a mistake for Mirlande Manigat to remove herself
from her Senate victory. A lot of people support Mirlande and they're going to 

feel betrayed. She has a chance to go far in Haitian politics if she plays her
 cards correctly. If the object of her withdrawal is to create five more
years of  political turmoil, that certainly isn't to the advantage of the
Haitian
people.

The Democratic system is not part of the traditional Haitian power culture,
but we're slowly getting there. Things are improving. Politicians now know
where  they stand with the Haitian people after this election. There sure were 
a

lot of  <one percenters>. Second place, 12%. In the States, if you don't have
15%  you can't even go to the debates.

 It's all right to lose an election. Barry Goldwater was wiped out  during
the '64 US election, but his legacy (Reagan/Bush) has carried on quite  well..

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