Edouard Paultre, head of the Haitian Council of Non State Actors (CONHANE) estimates that the statements made by the President, on November 18, are reassuring, because it is indeed necessary to have a consensus in the country on the new national security force.

"...In reality we were very concerned when the President Martelly had announced it would remobilize the army, there were people who were training before its declaration of November 18. We were worried, because we had the impression that we were going towards a remobilization of an army partisan, made on the willingness of a President, that would have made a recruitment without standards, without any documents...

The statements of the President, on November 18, are statements that reassure us, because we believe that it is necessary that there is a consensus in the country concerning the remobilization of the army."

Extracts of statements of President Martelly :

"My dear compatriots, in this November 18, [...] I announce to Nation Haitian and to the World the creation of a civil Commission responsible for giving substance to the file of the new defense force of the Republic of Haiti. [...] I want to reassure each other, the protagonists as opponents of the immediate setting up, that the civil Commission is subject to the requirement of democratic participation. Consultations will be conducted with all sectors of national life, civil society, the business sector, the Parliament, the legal community, political parties, grassroots organizations, churches, etc... [...] the civil Commission will study the opportunity and the establishment schedule, the profile and the philosophy of the new armed force, its workforce, funding sources, the role that it will have..."

In reference to these statements Édouard Paultre stressed "Now the national consensus, it is not enough, we also need that the government, alongside the Commission announced, negotiates with the powers and friendly countries, which still have a role to play in the supervision, the training and equipment [of the National Security Force].

So we think that this statement is correct, we wish indeed that there is a large consensus on the issue. We believe that today, the President Martelly gave an opportunity to the country to dialogue about the need to remobilize the army [...] we believe that the army has its place in Haiti [...] it is necessary that there is a force that can ensure the security of the country but also the intelligence..."

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4282-haiti-politic-speech-of-president-martelly-to-mark-the-208th-anniversary-of-vertiere.html

S/ HaitiLibre