[Mb-civic] Recommended: "A US CEO makes a bid to run Haiti"

Thu Aug 18 17:11:02 PDT 2005

harry.sifton at sympatico.ca recommends this article from The Christian Science Monitor

FYI

Canada's new Governor General is Haitian.

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Headline:  A US CEO makes a bid to run Haiti
Byline:  Danna Harman Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Date: 08/18/2005

Dumarsais Simeus, the most successful Haitian-American businessman in 
the US today, is going home to run for president of Haiti.

"I wanted my fellow native sons and daughters of the Artibonite Valley 
to hear it from me first.... I am a candidate for president of Haiti," 
Mr. Simeus, the son of illiterate peasants, announced Wednesday in his 
rural hometown of Pont-Sonde. "Today marks the start of a new beginning 
for our country ... in a time of crisis."

After months of speculation, the CEO of one of the largest black-owned 
businesses in the US told supporters he will start campaigning for the 
November election, the first since Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted 
following a violent rebellion in February 2004.

"What a contender!" says James Morrell, director of the Haiti Democracy 
Project in Washington. "Here is the richest and most successful Haitian 
around - running to lead a country where nothing works. This has to 
look awfully good. Here is evidence of someone who can get things done."

But the hurdles ahead are many. Simeus has no political experience, no 
name recognition, and no party in Haiti. Then, there are the worsening 
problems of the hemisphere's poorest nation: The gang violence, 
kidnappings, and other crime now are such that it is unclear whether 
the elections will take place this fall.

Even if the vote goes ahead, under the current interpretation of the 
Constitution, Simeus would be ineligible to run.

Article 135 of the Haitian Constitution states a presidential candidate 
must "be a native-born Haitian and never have renounced Haitian 
nationality," and have resided in the country for five consecutive 
years before the election. Simeus, 65, has taken US citizenship, and 
has been living in the US for 44 years.

But in a phone interview Wednesday, Simeus disagreed: "I don't have 
anything to overcome in terms of the Constitution or getting on the 
ballot. I never renounced my citizenship....My residence has been 
listed here ever since I was born. I have been fortunate to have other 
homes and other citizenships, but I never gave up my Haitian ones."

Simeus, a father of three, is a Howard University graduate with an MBA 
from the University of Chicago, and has held key management positions 
in companies such as Atari, Inc., Rockwell International, Bendix 
Corporation, and PromoCapital, the first investment banking firm in 
Haiti. He served as CEO of TLC Beatrice Foods, a $2 billion 
multinational conglomerate.

Today, he is CEO of Simeus Foods International, Inc. based in 
Mansfield, Texas, the largest minority-owned businesses in that state, 
according to Black Enterprise magazine. It does some $160 million in 
yearly sales to such customers as Denny's, T.G.I. Friday's and Burger 
King. He runs his own foundation, sending money to help poor 
communities in Haiti, and he sits on Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's Haiti Task 
Force. His parents, who once sold a plot of land so as to be able to 
send their eldest of 12 children to college in the US, still live in 
Haiti.

Emmanuel Francois, head of the Washington-based Alliance for Overseas 
Haitians, and a friend of the candidate, says Simeus will challenge the 
current interpretation of the constitution in Haiti's Supreme Court and 
set a precedent for other Haitian-Americans with political ambitions. 
"The Alliance has encouraged him to run. He has the name, the power, 
stamina, desire. He is a man who made a fortune but never forgot his 
roots," says Mr. Francois.

Others note that Haiti is far from a close reader of its own 
Constitution lately. "There is no parliament," says Morrell, "...and a 
permanent electoral commission has not been constituted," he adds. 
"With so many provisions of the constitution already breached, what 
logic would it make to suddenly be a stickler?"

There are an estimated 2 million Haitians living in the US, but 
significantly, they cannot vote in Haiti. "There is a tendency in 
Haiti, to look askance at members of diaspora who come back and 
seemingly throw their weight around," says Robert Maguire, a Haiti 
specialist at Trinity University in Washington. "Mr. Simeus would have 
to find a way around this and build trust."

Moreover, says Mr. Maguire, the country is filled with "political 
wannabes" who see Simeus as a threat and would "do everything they can 
to derail his candidacy." There are already at least half a dozen 
Haitians who have indicated they will run for the presidency in the 
elections.

But it's not certain there will be elections in November. "Adequate 
security, public understanding of the elections, and broad 
participation by those who want to register and vote are essential if 
there are to be fair and free elections," says Alain Deletroz at the 
International Crisis Group (ICG), a Washington think tank. 
"Unfortunately, there is little sign any of these are possible right 
now."

In a report released earlier this month, the ICG suggested that 
elections be postponed. "Empty elections that produce a government with 
little legitimacy could drive Haiti into permanent failed-state status, 
run by drug and criminal networks," it said.

Other observers differ. "Anytime is a good time to hold elections. 
There is no bad time, because whenever you do it - its going to be 
messy," says Simon Fass, author of "Political Economy in Haiti: The 
Drama of Survival." "Everyone is saying you have to have peace before 
you can hold elections - but you need a real government to make peace, 
and to have a government you need elections."

Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world. It is chronically 
dependent on international aid, along with an estimated $800 million 
sent home annually by Haitians working abroad. An interim government 
and a 7,400-member multinational UN force has been trying to keep order 
in Haiti since Aristide fled the country in 2004 and lawlessness 
engulfed the capital.

But Simeus is undeterred "Running a country like Haiti, which is broke 
and in bankruptcy," he admits, "takes many of the same skills as a 
successful businessman: leadership, knowing how to pick the right 
people to work for you, knowing how to create jobs for people."

He vows to create a "country that can function properly and an 
environment for investment.... I want to be realistic about how long 
this turn around will take. It will take at least a generation, but 
within the first year change will start taking off. We will start the 
rebuilding process."

* Ms. Harman is Latin America bureau chief for the Monitor and USA 
Today.

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