Haiti’s Yawning Leadership Vacuum: René Préval

Runs his Crisis of Confidence Quietly, if at all

• With the UN Haiti Donors’ Conference about to begin on March 31, 2010 in New York, an evaluation of President Préval’s leadership is necessary and unavoidable.

• The very question remains regarding the magnitude of President René Préval’s involvement in the leadership of efforts to reconstruct the island and whether Haiti’s rehabilitation will be entirely a function of the island’s NGO’s, or of the government’s (which has never failed hither to drop the ball in major areas of responsibility) ability to play a major role in guiding rehabilitation efforts.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated entire sections of the Republic of Haiti on January 12th intensified an already unbearable burden for the small Caribbean country. Described by the Inter-American Development Bank, without hyperbole, as “the most destructive natural disaster in modern times,” the Port-au-Prince earthquake and its aftershocks have left approximately 230,000 Haitians dead, displaced more than 1.2 million people, and generated an estimated $14 billion in damages. Plagued by abject poverty and political instability for most its history, Haiti remains perpetually ranked as the most unqualifiedly destitute nation in the Western Hemisphere. Meanwhile, President René Préval continues to be engulfed by international criticism as well as much abuse at home for demonstrating a breathtaking failure in leadership at a time when his country desperately required a firm hand. Immediately following the earthquake, Préval disappeared from the public arena, and instead of taking control, he chose to all but totally shy away from a decision-making role.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Ritika Singh