Haiti | Jovenel Moise sworn in as new president

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise sits with his wife Martine during his swearing-in ceremony at Parliament in Port-au-Prince

Jovenel Moise was sworn in yesterday [Macau time] as Haiti’s president for the next five years after a bruising two-year election cycle, inheriting a chronically struggling economy and a deeply divided society.

The 48-year-old entrepreneur took the oath of office in a Parliament chamber packed with Haitian lawmakers and foreign dignitaries from countries including the U.S., Venezuela and France. He smiled slightly as the Senate leader slipped Haiti’s red and blue presidential sash over his left shoulder.

In his inaugural address during the day of prayer and platitudes, Moise gave a rough outline of his government’s priorities and pledged to bring “real improvements” to the economically strapped nation, particularly the long-neglected countryside.

He urged unity and promised to strengthen institutions, fight corruption and bring more investments and jobs to one of the least developed nations in the world.

“We can change Haiti if we work together,” Moise said to applause on the grounds of what used to be the national palace, which was one of many buildings obliterated during a devastating earthquake that hit outside the capital in January 2010.

There’s little expectation among citizens that Moise’s new government can overcome Haiti’s deep problems of poverty and economic malaise in the next five years, but he does have a majority in Parliament and some are hopeful the businessman-turned-politician will make steady advances.

“What we still really need in this country are the basics: working hospitals, better schools and security. I think it can be done,” said Maxime Cantave, owner of a car wash and propane business in the Port-au-Prince district of Delmas 48.

Nearby, Charles Bichotte agreed but said he’d wait and see if Moise was sincere with his various vows. “We’ve heard so many pledges from our presidents but here we are, still struggling,” said the houseplant vendor.

Robert Fatton, a Haitian-
born politics professor at the University of Virginia, described the many challenges facing Moise as “herculean.”

“He has to revive domestic production, increase foreign and local investments, rebuild the moribund agricultural sector, create a sense of national solidarity, and generate a sorely lacking political stability,” he said, adding that all this will have to be achieved amid diminishing international assistance.

But Fatton suggested that Moise might actually benefit from citizens’ low expectations of political leaders following many years of broken promises and failed policies.

“If he manages to deliver a modicum of change he may restore a sense of hope for the future,” he said.

The Tuesday inauguration was the concluding step in Haiti’s return to constitutional rule a year after ex-President Michel Martelly left office without an elected successor in place amid waves of opposition protests and a political stalemate suspending elections. A caretaker government was quickly created to fill the void and pave the way for elections. AP