A follow-up committee has been set up with representatives of the government, the presidency, the political sectors, civil society and the Council of Wise Men, COEP, for the implementation of the political transition agreement. This decision is the result of a meeting which took place at the prime minister’s office on July 10 with the people who signed the April 4 agreement. Prime Minister Gerard Latortue says that it is important for Haiti to have a government which can work with the diverse sectors of the nation to make the government’s actions legitimate. Prime Minister Latortue spoke as follows:
It is important for governments in Haiti to stop working behind closed doors. This is very important for the current government in particular, this transitional government, in its efforts to build a foundation for the government which will take over in February 2006.
What we are doing now is trying to get all the political parties, all the civil society organizations and the COEP to take part in everything we are doing so that they can continue to build on the foundation we are laying. So, it is extraordinary for me to see all of us gather here together for a common purpose. It is not always helpful to work in plenary meetings. So, we have formed a follow-up committee which includes a government representative, a representative of the presidency, three private sector representatives, three COEP representatives and probably five representatives of the political sector.
It is with this committee which we will work on all the major issues which concern the country. For instance, we will set up a committee to work on the military issue, the problem concerning the pension funds of the demobilized servicemen; we will set up a commission to collect evidence on all the crimes which were committed and the national economy system. In other words, the government is not alone.
The government will be accompanied by all the political parties, civil society and the COEP. Government action will therefore have more legitimacy and will be able to find a fair solution which will be more acceptable to the people.