Originally: Many Crosses to Bear

FOREWORD 7


1 Coming out of the coup d’etat: a taxing operation 13


The restoration 14


The end of the army 17


The great electoral upheaval (1995) 20


The fragmentation of the democratic movement 24


2 The trials and tribulations of Lavalassian normalization 30


The poles of the new power (1995-1997) 30


The political poles: Préval, Aristide and the OPL 31


Préval 31


Aristide 34


OPL 37


The institutional poles: The Presidency, the Prime Minister? s


Office and Parliament . 39


The weakness of the opposition 41


The limitations of charismatic leadership 43


3 The political and institutional crisis 48


The electoral fiasco of April 6, 1997  48


Governmental paralysis 49


The March 6,1999. Agreement 51


What was the OPLs strategy? 55


4 Aristide II or the derailment of the democratic process 60


The pre-electoral climate 60


The May 21 Coup and Lavalas total seizure of power 62


In search of legitimacy 65


The Lavalas Convergence clash (March 2001) 68


The Lavalas methods 72


The international community takes charge 75


The disastrous balance sheet 83


5 Thinking Haitian democracy 86


Thinking of the new State 87


Structuring civil society, promoting citizenship 91


Consolidating political society 95


Rehabilitating politics 95


Understanding the new political orientation 97


Rebuilding the political landscape 98


Presenting a project acceptable for the whole society 100


Stimulating debate 101


The democratic project and its requirements 103


The dilemma 104


The irreducible democratic minimum 106


The international context 109


6 Emergencies: redefining the rules of the game 114


The constitutional question 114


The electoral question 119


Conclusion: the national alliance 123