I must say that it is an initiative which actually began on 17 March during the prime minister’s investiture. The Democratic Platform held consultations with the prime minister, the interim president of the republic and the Council of Eminent Persons (COEP). We believed it was necessary for us to seek to a protocol of an agreement that would allow us to manage the transition properly, which should be successful in any case.
After lengthy discussions and consultations, we managed to reach an agreement on a document titled “Consensus on Political Transition”. First, it set conditions for the transition. We say that general elections should take place no later than the end of 2005. Second, there are a lot of problems which should be considered. For instance, there is the problem of the young people, how they can really take part in the transition, and how to really take into account the sacrifice they made. There is also the problem of the military pension fund plan, the problem of the army, the problem of public security, the problem of corruption, the problem of the victims of failed cooperatives and so forth.
Among the resolutions, we decided that if somebody is, for instance, prime minister or a minister in the current government, he will not be able to run in the elections and he will not be able to be a minister in the next government either. And the same thing goes for the members of the Provisional Electoral Council, CEP. I believe that this is the first time that such a thing has taken place in Haiti, where the most concerned sectors, such as the political parties, the civil society organizations, the COEP, the government, and the Presidency, have all agreed to ensure the success of the transition.
I am really pleased with what has been done. I put a lot of effort into it. This is the reason why people did not hear about me much, because I was concentrating my efforts into this, along with some other colleagues, political parties, members of civil society, officials of the Presidency, the COEP and government officials. I am really pleased about the fact that we were able to put the interests of the country before power. And this time, I am exaggeratedly optimistic that this transition will be a success so that we may guarantee political stability in this country.