Port-au-Prince, Haiti – Haitian President-elect Rene Preval said Wednesday that the constitution permits the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was forced to flee into exile following a violent rebellion two years ago.
Preval, a former protégé of Aristide who shares the ousted leader’s strong support among the poor, said the former president has a legal right to return to the volatile Caribbean nation.
“My position is simple on President Aristide and any other citizen who wants to come to Haiti,” Preval said in his first news conference since being declared winner of the Feb. 7 election. “Article 41 of the Haitian Constitution says that no Haitian needs a visa to enter or leave the country.”
In South Africa, Aristide said Wednesday that he was ready to end what he called an unconstitutional exile, but timing for his return was up to his former protégé.
The United States and other countries have warned that the return of Aristide, who was forced to flee the country after a violent rebellion two years ago, could further destabilize Haiti.
When asked by reporters, Preval declined to discuss Aristide’s potential return in detail.
“Remember, you’re talking to a president,” he said at the modern, gated home of his sister in the hills east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. “Do you respect the constitution? The response isn’t with me. It’s with the constitution.”
Aristide said Wednesday during an interview with international news agencies that he expected to hear soon when he could return home.
“The date of my return will emerge from consultations” among Preval, the United Nations, the Caribbean Community and his host, the South African government, he said.
Preval, an agronomist who served as president from 1996 to 2001, was declared the winner of the election after electoral authorities divided 85,000 blank votes among the candidates to avoid a runoff.
The move gave Preval 51 percent of the vote needed for an outright victory, drawing complaints from his two closest rivals, neither of whom polled close to Preval’s numbers in the Feb. 7 vote.
Group 184, a coalition of business leaders and activists instrumental in the ouster of Aristide, has issued a statement calling Preval’s election unconstitutional.
The president-elect brushed aside the criticism in his news conference.
“We clearly have a winner in the first round of the presidential vote,” he said. “Most competitors accepted this result, although there are some critics. It is normal.”
Preval urged citizens to turn out in large numbers for the second round of legislative balloting and pledged to work with lawmakers in other parties to restore security and attract private investment to Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
“I think the conditions are here to build this country together,” he said, referring to his political opponents.
