Port-Au-prince, Haiti – A presidential candidate whose name was dropped from the ballot despite two Haitian Supreme Court rulings said Saturday the interim president, the prime minister and the electoral council should be jailed.
Haiti’s Supreme Court twice ruled that Dumarsais Simeus, who was born in Haiti and moved to the United States at age 21, could run for president in his native country. But the interim government created a commission that excluded Simeus from the list of candidates allowed to run in Tuesday’s election.
Simeus said the interim leaders and the electoral council should face punishment.
“The recourse is to go and arrest the prime minister, arrest the president and arrest the people in the electoral council who have refused to abide by the Supreme Court decision,” Simeus, a multimillionaire, told The Associated Press and AP Television News.
Michel Brunache, the spokesman of interim President Boniface Alexandre, dismissed Simeus’ argument.
“Simeus is speaking in anger,” Brunache said. “It’s the constitution, not the government, that says he cannot run for president. He is a U.S. citizen. He thinks that with his fortune he can do whatever he wants.” The question of whether Simeus can run for president has rocked Haiti, which has been led by a weak interim government since elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a rebellion two years ago.
Though the constitution does not allow dual citizenship, the Supreme Court ruled in October that authorities had not proven Simeus was a U.S. citizen and said he could run.
The interim government created a nationality commission that excluded Simeus from the list of 35 candidates allowed to run for president, but the Supreme Court on Dec. 8 upheld its earlier ruling.
The next day the interim government announced it removed five of the 10 judges from the Supreme Court, calling it “a purely administrative measure.” Two of the five ousted judges were part of the five-judge panel that had unanimously ruled in favor of Simeus.
Simeus, 65, the son of illiterate Haitian rice farmers, left Haiti at the age of 21 for the United States, where he became the multimillionaire owner of Simeus Foods in Texas. He said he is still legally a candidate.
The first electoral poll in Haiti, published Dec. 9, found he was the Haitians’ second favorite choice for president, behind front-runner Rene Preval, an agronomist and former president. The two polled far ahead of the other candidates.
Simeus said no matter who wins, he stands ready to assist as a “freelancer” – and not a government employee – to help the new administration lift this Caribbean country out of its cycle of poverty, violence and despair, by attracting foreign investors.
Simeus said the last word had not been spoken over the decision to keep him off the ballot.
“Those guys have violated the law. And I may decide to pursue them in the future and bring them to justice and put them in jail,” he said. “You should not circumvent the highest court’s decision in any country and get away with it.” — Associated Press writer Michael Norton contributed to this report.
