Haiti's PM nominee sees no quick fixes

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — An international banker nominated to be Haiti's next prime minister said Friday that Haiti must concentrate on long-term strategies to help the millions pushed deeper into misery by higher food prices.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Ericq Pierre promised to back President Rene Preval's far-reaching plans to address soaring prices, increase national food production and create jobs.

(enlarge photo) Ericq Pierre, an international banker nominated to be Haiti's next prime minister, answers questions during an interview in Port-au-Prince, Friday, May 9, 2008. Pierre said only long-term strategies will help the millions pushed deeper into misery by higher food prices in Haiti. Riots over higher food prices last month left at least seven people dead and destroyed hundreds of businesses.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Pierre, a senior official with the Inter-American Development Bank, said it will take decades for the country to build up the revenues and resources needed to address the poverty and high prices that sparked deadly riots in April.

"There is a lack of food but this is also a problem of cash — there is no money," Pierre said in his first interview with foreign media since the nomination. "The priorities in this country look very clear: We have to fight the high cost of living and try to create jobs. Jobs, jobs and jobs."

Preval nominated Pierre to be his country's second-in-command last month after the Senate fired Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis amid criticism that his government failed to show leadership and mismanaged the economy before violent protests that left seven people dead and destroyed hundreds of businesses.

Pierre said that if he is confirmed his government will pursue Preval's long-term goals of rebuilding agriculture, creating jobs and overhauling the justice system and schools.

He supports the president's 275-page poverty reduction framework prepared with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as a way to build a functioning economy in a country where the U.N. says more than half the people survive on less than US$1 (euro0.65) a day.

On Wednesday, a Senate committee approved Pierre's qualifications in a vote to allow debate on his nomination. The Chamber of Deputies must now hold a similar vote, and it remains unclear when the full parliament will vote on his confirmation.

Confirmation is not certain. Preval nominated Pierre for the same position in 1997, but the Chamber of Deputies rejected him 43-9 after he promised to push a U.S.-backed economic plan that would have laid off thousands of government workers and privatized state-run enterprises.

This time around, Pierre, 63, said with a laugh that he has a "50-50 chance" of confirmation.

"I told (Preval) not to put my name forward if my chances were not at least good," he said in fluent English with a slight French accent. "Now we are in a negotiating process. I consider that my chances to be ratified and form my government are very good."

He called on lawmakers to put politics aside and consider his experience with the international development bank.

"I tell everybody that I am not here to be prime minister at any cost. We should sit down and talk about what we can do for the country."

Sen. Youri Latortue, one of the 16 senators whose no-confidence vote removed Alexis on April 12, said he has not yet decided if he will support the nomination.

"I don't think it will be easy (for Pierre)," Latortue said. "He has to show leadership."

If approved, Pierre will face a daunting task: restoring confidence in a government whose perceived failure to curb soaring food prices helped spark the April riots. Like many in Haiti, he believes the violence was caused by criminals who hijacked the otherwise peaceful food protests.

Still, the country is struggling to restore stability and rebuild its economy four years after a violent rebellion ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The country is patrolled by some 9,000 U.N. peacekeeping troops and police.

Preval responded to the food riots by using international aid and negotiating with importers to temporarily cut the price of rice by 15 percent.

But Pierre, who praised the president's efforts to restore stability to Haiti, said the country must now try to increase national food production to reduce its overwhelming reliance on imports.

"It is time for us to take better responsibility. We have a lot of problems to solve in this country, but if you think about it, the Haitian people should be considered greater than their problems."

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