Duo-Citizenship: Get Rid of the "Haitian Citizens only" policy
By Jean-Marie Florestal
If you follow some of the arguments argument regarding Yvon Neptune's eligibility to become Prime Minister, two wrongs make a right.
It is wrong that the Haitian Constitution denies eligibility to the leadership of the country by Haitians who have renounced their nationality. It is also wrong to ask those responsible to uphold the Constitution to blatantly disobey it. While it is true in mathematics that two negatives make a positive, it does not apply in public administration. What is wrong here is a bad law that may deny competent and honest Haitians - who may be the only chance Haiti has from complete collapse - the chance of rescuing the sinking ship that is our country today. God only knows how much those competent and honest Haitians are scarce today.
Most Haitians who left the country to become a diaspora did it with many reservations. Many of them left because of political persecutions. And the majority of the rest left because there were not enough opportunities available to them in the country. Most of them wanted to return. But the worsening conditions of the country make the return always postponed. To take advantage of all the opportunities available to them while living outside of Haiti, they had to adopt the nationality of the host country. While living outside, they acquire knowledge, wealth, and new skills that are essential for Haiti's future. To deny them the right to participate in the rebuilding of the country is self defeating and short-sighted.
While the Diaspora should not have been denied participation in the leadership of Haiti, we cannot advocate disobedience of the Constitution. Such act would lead to more chaos than what already exists in Haiti. The country has a bad history of its leadership disregarding its laws. This is the time to ensure that the rule of laws is the guiding light of the country. If a lawmaker or an executive can disregard the constitution because of the potential good of the country, that same argument can also be used to justify illegal acts to further his political goals. Francois Duvalier used that all the times to maintain his reign over power. In so doing, we weaken our laws and the country becomes less manageable than it already is .
The proviso for excluding those who "renounced Haitian nationality" should have been defined in such a way that just having dual citizenship alone should not be a criteria of ineligibility. It would have to be done in conjunction with other acts, such as taking arms against Haiti, etc., to be defined as renouncing Haitian nationality.
It is time to get rid of this poorly written law. It does not protect the country against an enemy. For, if the Diaspora does not have the country's best interest at heart, it does not make sense that they sent millions of dollars to the country yearly and that they are the only real tourists going there. The only beneficiaries of the laws are politicians who gained a competitive edge against some in the Diaspora who still have political ambitions. The loser here is Haiti, as it is being denied sorely needed skills and outside experience to navigate out of the marass it is in. This is not to say that any Diaspora will make a better manager, but only that the law denies the country the full use of all its available resources. In so doing, we are continuing the errors of past managers of the country. That is, they put their interest ahead of that of the country. While the law protects the jobs of those who stayed in Haiti when things were going bad, it is also denying what many outside of the country consider its only chance of survival. That is the access to that pool of skilled labor that is badly needed for the rebuilding of the country.
If Mr. Neptune really has an American passport, it is ironic that he had not used his influence while in the Senate while to get rid of that shortsighted law. Having said that, I am not giving up on Mr. Neptune's nomination, if it turns out that he has dual citizenship. I believe those who want him there should have two choices. One is to challenge the definition of "renounced Haitian nationality" all the way to the Supreme Court, if it is possible. The other is to muster the political capital, and repeal the bad portion of the law. If those two options are not possible, then we have no other choice but to apply the Constitution, as flawed as it is. The only problem with my options is that they take time. The country already has enough problems waiting for solutions to move forward, that it cannot afford another delay.
The only solution to this problem in the future is to get rid of that law that many have already proved to be counterproductive to Haiti's development.
