Originally: Letter to senate president
Ouanaminthe, March 19, 2008
Senator Kelly Bastien
President of the Senate of the Republic
Legislative Palace
Dear Mr. President,
Following the resolution of the Senate of the Republic asking me to confirm in writing my resignation as senator, I have the honor to inform you of my firm decision to not resign as senator of the Republic and to remain at my post.
Withdrawal on my part from the Senate would be a betrayal of my constituents in the Nord-Est and the mission which they have confided in me, namely to defend and uphold their interests in the Senate of the Republic.
The report of the committee presided over by Sen. Youri Latortue and the opinions emanating from it are no more than a report and opinions representing only their authors.
The resolution of the Senate of March 18, 2008 which followed the submission of the Latortue report and all the pressures directed against me and certain of my colleagues during and after the session amount to a political lynching worthy of the dictatorial period of previous regimes. The constitution in whose name the resolution was voted formally prohibits such behavior. Consequently, I formally protest the manner and the voting of this resolution. I ask all my colleagues in the Senate to reassess and not be tools of a campaign to destabilize the Senate which has no other aim than to render it nonfunctional.
I once again confirm to you that I am of Haitian origin and that I have never renounced my citizenship acquired at birth. Only the judicial system of my country can decide to the contrary. You must not overlook the fact that the only body qualified to rule on questions of the nationality and state of persons is the Court of the First Instance and that the Senate is not qualified to decide this type of question. No other body may substitute for this court in the exercise of its functions.
I fully intend to use all legal routes to defend my rights and those of my constituents who find themselves flouted in a way that is shameful.
Mr. President, my patriotic greetings.
Rudolph H. Boulos
Senator of the Republic
Vice-President of the Senate
cc. Mr. Victor Benoit, president of the Fusion party