Mirlande Manigat: Professor, First lady and (maybe) President - MiamiHerald.com

 BY TRENTON DANIEL

TDANIEL@MIAMIHERALD.COM

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- A week to the day after Haitian officials announced that Mirlande Manigat took first place and was heading to a March 20 runoff in Haiti’s flawed presidential vote, the longtime opposition candidate literally stepped from behind her desk to meet one-on-one with The Miami Herald.

In her air-conditioned office at her political party headquarters near downtown Port-au-Prince, the professor and former first lady held forth on why she’s running, the role her husband, former president Leslie Manigat, would play, and the possible return of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Campaign coordinator Jean Yves Noël sat with us.

Q) Why are you running for office?

A) First of all, that’s the easiest answer. Because I am a concerned citizen in this country, and I am exercising my constitutional right to run for whatever post that’s available in the country. But it’s not satisfactory as an answer. Why at my age (70) and taking into consideration my career, which has been both political and academic? I am running because, as I like to say, I love this country, which is mine. I am very proud of its history, of its culture. I am very proud of its people. But I don’t like it as it is now.

It’s a country crippled with problems, and every problem can have a solution. But our problems are structural ones. For instance, the very unacceptable social inequalities. We have a series of antagonisms in this country, people living in town against people living in the countryside; people who speak French against those who people speak only Creole; people who are Christians, Catholics, Protestants and those who are Vodouisants; people who are educated to whatever the level and those who are illiterate, that represent 45 percent of the population; women against men. They are interrelated. That creates very deep social problems and sometimes we can feel some kind of social eruption. We don’t need social eruption in the country but we need changes. I personally advocate for peaceful change but socially profound changes.

And I do think that I can try, I can walk in every circumstance and in every domain and in every sector. I am a university professor. I am confident that I am doing a good job. … In order to try to solve those problems, you have to reach the highest the political position because I think that it’s not only a matter of policy making, it’s a matter of politics. No matter the problems you want to solve you have to first put together the political will to solve them.

As a human being, as a citizen, I think I have received much, from God, from life, from the country. Because of that I want to give back what I have received.

Q) What would be your top priorities if elected?

A) In Haiti we like to say everything is a priority and it is true. Given the circumstances, the top priority would be to solve the cholera problem. It’s a problem because of medical and water conditions. We have another priority stemming from the consequences of the earthquake, those living in the camps. Being a university professor I am very concerned about the education system in Haiti. When I have a vision for the development of the country, I can see the take-off – the necessary take-off of the country – maybe in 15, 20 years. Which means there’s no possibility to go back but to go further. Of course, it won’t happen under my government because I have a five-year mandate. Thinking about development. It seems to me that one of the tools for development is education. The country will not realize this “take-off” if 45 percent of its population is illiterate and if it still has 800,000 children not attending school. All this creates frustration among the young. The country is losing what it could gain from young people who could be educated. Of course, we need electricity, we need roads, we need hospitals. But for me education is the key.

Q) Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has expressed serious interest in returning to Haiti. What are your thoughts on that?

A) I think that as a Haitian citizen he has the right to come back and live in his country. But he is not an ordinary citizen. He’s a former president and you know about his history. My question is why would he come back now? We just had Jean-Claude Duvalier come back. The two of them represent two very controversial periods in Haitian history. The two being together in Haiti, given the present circumstances of the electoral process and so on, that would certainly create at least tension in the country.

Q) Some have said your husband would have a hand in politics in Haiti if you were elected. To what extent do you think your husband would be involved?

A) It’s a normal preoccupation but it’s not true. He has decided to relinquish all political activities and he has stuck with that. He’s advising me – but as a husband. It’s a normal attitude but he doesn’t take part. At all. At all. At all. He has too much respect for me for that

Q) If you were elected, what kind of priority would you give the prosecution of Jean-Claude Duvalier?

A) It’s not my business. Some people believe they have been victims of the Jean-Claude Duvalier regime and they have filed lawsuits against him. It’s a question for the judiciary.

Q) Why should people vote for you?

A) They can trust me. They can trust my competence, my honesty. They can trust that I am not promoting a personal presidency. I think that we need now for the country a professional team that is serious, competent, honest in order to govern the country. I can add because – it is important – I am a woman.