Profile of the OPL
The Organization of the People in Struggle (OPL), formerly
the Lavalas Political Organization, after 1991 was an
organized current of the Lavalas movement, separating
itself from the movement gradually because of grave and
growing political differences.
In 1995, as the majority party in parliament, the OPL
supplied the presidents of the senate and the chamber
of deputies and designated as prime minister Rosny Smarth,
who resigned in 1997 after fraudulent elections put
on by the presidency. The OPL then renounced the Lavalas
name and renamed itself the Organization of the People
in Struggle.
In the difficult task of creating the democratic institutions
provided for in the constitution of 1987 the differentiation
between two tendencies and political courses became
more and more evident. The OPL, the principal force
of opposition to the Lavalas government in the nine
departments of the country, won more and more prominence
for its positions critical of presidents Aristide and
Préval and for its proposals for political, economic
and social reforms.
Organizational Structure of the OPL
For the elections of May 21, 2000 OPL ran candidates
for 15 of 19 open senatorial seats, 64 of 83 in the
Chamber of Deputies, and 97 of 133 mayors. It had according
to a poll of nine thousand citizens undertaken in November
1999 some 28 percent of the vote, which has a particular
significance in view of the dispersion and weak degree
of representatitiveness of the political parties as
well as the erosion of the erosion of the Lavalas Family
party and its leadership.
From the organizational point of view OPL is directed
by:
An executive council of nine members whose general
coordinator is Prof. Gérard Pierre-Charles and
whose directors are:
Sen. Irvelt Chery, for international relations
Paul Denis, ex-senator and senatorial candidate
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, coordinator of the National
Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papaye
Sauveur Pierre Etienne, secretary of the executive
committee
Rosny Smarth, ex-prime minister
A political committee made up of a number of members
including the nine members of the executive committee
plus:
The elected senators of the OPL
The presidents of the two chambers if they are elected
from the OPL
The representatives of the OPL parliamentary group
in the chamber
Cadres and experienced leaders
Among the better-known figures:
Edgard Leblanc Fils, acting director of the senate
Suzy Castor, senatorial candidate from the Department
of the West
Vasco Thernelan, ex-president of the Chamber of Deputies
and candidate to the chamber
The national committee has 45 members who are the members
of the executive committee, some members of the political
committee and the leaders of the nine bureaus for the
departments.
|
Haiti@inxil.com
· James
R. Morrell, executive director