Honourable Gerard Latortue, Interim Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti,
Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations,
Honourable Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. First of all I would like to thank Secretary General Kofi Annan for the initiative of holding this timely meeting at a critical juncture in the transitional process of Haiti.

2. At the outset I let me reaffirm in the strongest terms the commitment of the OAS to continue its support to the political and democratic transition in Haiti and in particular, the holding of free, fair, transparent and credible elections over the course of the weeks and months to come.

3. As Core Group members are aware, the OAS has focused strongly on the massive voter registration campaign, the preparation of an electoral registry and the production of the Haitian national identification card. I take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister of the Interim Government in Haiti, H.E. Gerard Latortue and his cabinet for the cooperation so far, and also express appreciation to MINUSTAH and especially Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdes for the effective collaboration with the OAS in Haiti.

4. After a slow start, progress in preparing for elections can now be confirmed. Political party and legislative and presidential candidate registration is now complete, and the results confirm a strong interest on the part of Haiti’s political sectors to participate in the upcoming elections. The Provisional Electoral Council has installed its Departmental Electoral Offices and is working on a detailed electoral operations timetable.

5. Voter registration continues apace, with 2.3 million Haitian citizens already registered and an extension granted by the CEP to continue the registration process. The OAS, together with the CEP, and assisted by MINUSTAH, has opened registration centers throughout the country, including in Haiti’s remotest rural sections and its largest slums, such as Cite Soleil and Belair. There are currently over 700 registration posts functioning in the country, in approximately 440 registration centers and through mobile registration units. Offices have been opened in 450 of Haiti’s 570 rural sections, and another 40 are being reached through the deployment of mobile units. The remaining 80 rural communal sections, representing 2.52% of the voting-age population, will be reached over the next number of days, in order to provide ample access to registration for all eligible Haitian citizens, regardless of their geographic location. In spite of security considerations, registration offices have been set up and operating in Belair and Cite Soleil for several weeks now, with a significant number of citizens registering in those very populous and disadvantaged communities.

6. The first national identification cards which are obligatory for voting and will soon become obligatory for all citizens transactions, will be arriving in Haiti this coming Monday and distributed immediately to the citizenry through the registration offices. All of these advances are positive and constitute essential building blocks for a good electoral process.

7. However, we remain concerned about the internal weaknesses of the electoral body and of the many outstanding tasks which still must be completed by the CEP in a short period of time. In this sense, I reiterate the specific concerns outlined by the OAS and the UN in the paper which you have received today, which seeks to pinpoint a series of critical actions which, in our view, must be addressed over the next days in order to ensure that good elections will indeed take place according to the calendar established by the CEP. We are indeed pleased with the commitment from Prime Minister Latortue earlier in his opening statement that he is ready to start working on these matters early next week.

8. The OAS ascribes critical importance to the CEP taking on fully its responsibilities and to act on them in a more decisive and timely manner. Likewise, we strongly encourage the interim Government of Haiti to do everything in its power to support the electoral process, and in particular, to guarantee a proper electoral environment. In the view of the OAS, this proper electoral environment must be ensured through dedicated efforts to create a climate of security for candidates and citizens who wish to participate in elections, as well as an open and participatory climate in which all individuals and political tendencies can compete freely and equitably. A free, equitable and participatory climate will require the resolution of the long-standing issues of the prolonged pre-trial detention of various political actors in the country as well as the putting in place of public campaign financing, as stipulated in Haiti’s electoral law.

9. In summary, urgent action is needed to keep elections on track and on time, but I believe that we also need to begin thinking about the longer-term perspective of institution-building in Haiti, in the developmental and electoral context. I am pleased to inform you that next week Tuesday 22 September the OAS Permanent Council and the Board of Directors of the IDB will meet in a joint session to discuss, among other matters, the support to Haiti after the elections. As we all know, successive Haitian governments and the international community have invested heavily in electoral processes over the past fifteen years, with virtually nothing to show for it in terms of a consolidated, permanent electoral system and a permanent electoral authority built on expertise and experience, and which could enjoy credibility in the citizens’ eyes. We need to prioritize the creation of a professional, permanent CEP, a permanent electoral registry system and a national identification system as part of the essential process of institution-building in the country.

10. The OAS continues to mobilize political, financial and technical support for Haiti
throughout the Western Hemisphere. In a further demonstration of our unwavering support to Haiti, I would like to take this opportunity to announce my forthcoming trip to the country on September 25 and 26th, and a future visit of the OAS Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza in October.

In closing, I would like to confirm our support of the Statement of the Chair, and once again commend the timely holding of this meeting.