PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 16 (IPS) – Haiti’s political institutions may largely be dominated by the Lavalas Platform, the three-party coalition that swept last year’s parliamentary and presidential elections.

But the new Lavalas parliament, which officially opened here last week, is proving to be anything but a rubber stamp for the Lavalas government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh.

The 27-seat Senate shot down the nomination of a new national police chief Tuesday and continued to stall on approving this year’s national budget of some 325 million dollars. And last week, parliament refused to ratify a 17 million dollar education loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

‘’There’s an independent spirit here,’’ said Sen. Jean-Robert Sabalat, a former foreign minister who now represents the western region of the country, including the Port-au-Prince area. ‘’Every senator is free to express himself independent of his political party. It’s a very healthy environment.’’

Although the 46th session of Haiti’s two chamber parliament only officially opened Jan. 8, the early signs are clear – lawmakers will not be bowing to the traditionally powerful presidency, regardless of party affiliation or personal popularity. And the shock waves are being felt, from the presidential palace to the hallways of international financial institutions.

The Senate’s refusal Tuesday to ratify President Aristide’s nominee, Lt. Col. Jean-Marie Fourel Celestin, to head the newly formed Haitian National Police, was just the latest strain in relations between lawmakers and the popular president, whose coattails most of the new legislators rode to power on.

In last year’s parliamentary elections, the Lavalas Platform grabbed some 45 percent of the vote, taking 18 Senate seats and 65 of the 78 seats in the lower house.

Beyond national politics, the parliament’s assertiveness is impacting international affairs as well. The block on the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) education loan does not bode well for the sweeping privatization and austerity package pushed by international financial institutions (IFIs).

Ultimately, parliament must approve most aspects of the deeply unpopular Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), including the privatization of nine state-run industries.

An aggressive parliament is a relatively new phenomenon in Haiti. For much of the last 40 years, the legislature was a pliant tool in the hands of the Duvalier family dictatorship or the bloody Haitian army. Only in the late 1980s, with the opening of some democratic space and hesitant steps at elections, did parliament start to become an independent force.

Indeed, the 1987 Constitution grants parliament significant powers, partly to keep a check on a traditionally repressive executive. And despite the Lavalas Platform’s control of the two branches of government,legislators and government officials say that parliamentary independence will become a regular feature of Haiti’s political landscape.

‘’To take positive action that may seem contrary to the position of the executive branch is definitely a plus for the democratic experience,’’ notes Yvon Neptune, the spokesperson for President Aristide, citing parliament’s recent interventions in the budget debate and nominations for government posts.

‘’But if it is a position based on the fact that a legislators or a group of legislators don’t want to be seen as ‘yes’ legislators like those under a repressive regime that’s not such a good thing,’’ he added. ‘’It’s not taking into account the changes that have happened in the country.’’

President-elect Rene Preval, who has vowed to work closely with parliament, will likely not receive much slack either, even though he was swept to power with 89 percent of the popular vote in last month’s presidential election.

But he’s no stranger to an insurgent parliament. As prime minister during the first seven months of Aristide’s tenure before the Sep. 1991 military coup, lawmakers from his own political platform sought to oust his government in a ‘’soft’’ coup that ultimately failed.

The National Front for Change and Democracy (FNCD), the coalition that Aristide represented when elected in Dec. 1990, was drubbed in last year’s parliamentary elections largely because they were seen as anti-Aristide.

While it’s still too early to tell how today’s battles will play out in the upcoming months and years, or the effect that they will have on the loose Lavalas coalition, an independent parliament may spell bad news for international financial institutions (IFIs).

They are pushing an unpopular Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in return for Haitian government access to some $135 million in crucial loans and grants. The SAP calls for the privatization of nine state-run companies, including the telephone and electric companies, a sweeping reduction in trade tariffs, and massive lay- offs among state workers.

An integral part of the IFIs policy here — a sharp rollback in the state’s administration of relatively large social and economic development project loans — took a blow with some fierce parliamentary opposition to an IDB education loan. In general, the IFIs want a small group of government officials to approve projects and then contract them out to the private sector or non- governmental organizations.

The 17 million doollar IDB deal, which includes scholarships for some 80,000 students, a teacher training program, and the supply of textbooks, is supposed to be executed by a newly- created, private organization. But legislators objected to the plan, arguing against its private sector orientation, the minimal role of the education ministry, and its management by a group that they know nothing about.

‘’We don’t have a private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not nationally structured,’’ said Lavalas Sen. Samuel Madistin. ‘’So when you ask these people to take care of administration in place of the state they will do it worse.’’

While some observers may be seeing gridlock, or Lavalas infighting, lawmakers universally regard the process as democracy in action and a legitimate exercise of control over a traditionally authoritarian executive.

‘’We are in a young democracy,’’ says Sen. Sabalat, ‘’but happily things are changing right now and the Senate is taking its role of controlling the executive seriously.’’(END/IPS/DC/95)

Origin: Amsterdam/HAITI-POLITICS/ ----

[c] 1995, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved

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