Haiti: The Tet Kale political party, including structure, leadership, objectives, activities, and documents issued to members (2012-February 2017)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Publication Date | 24 February 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HTI105764.E |
| Related Document(s) | Haïti : information sur le parti politique Tèt Kale, y compris sa structure, ses dirigeants, ses objectifs, ses activités et les documents remis aux membres (2012-février 2017) |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Haiti: The Tet Kale political party, including structure, leadership, objectives, activities, and documents issued to members (2012-February 2017), 24 February 2017, HTI105764.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/598449cf4.html [accessed 13 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa
1. Overview
Sources cite the Minister of Justice as stating that the Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale (PHTK) was officially recognized as a political party on 16 August 2012 (HaïtiLibre 18 Aug. 2012; Le Nouvelliste 16 Aug. 2012). Sources indicate that PHTK is the political party of the former President of the Republic, Michel Martelly (TV5 Monde 30 Nov. 2016; RFI 29 Nov. 2016).
According to the same sources, Jovenel Moïse, the PHTK candidate, won the November 2016 presidential election with 55.67 percent of the votes in the first round of the election (ibid.; TV5 Monde 30 Nov. 2016). Le Monde indicates that Jovenel Moïse was sworn in as President of the Republic on 7 February 2017 (Le Monde 8 Feb. 2017). Sources state that the results of the first round of the 2015 presidential election had been cancelled due to fraud (ibid. 7 June 2016; TV5 Monde 30 Nov. 2016).
According to AFP, in August 2016, Jovenel Moïse was [translation] "charged with corruption and assets laundering" by the Central Financial Information Unit (Unité centrale de renseignements financiers, UCREF) of Haiti [1], (AFP 5 Jan. 2017). According to Le Monde,
[translation]
The new president faces money laundering charges, which he rejects … In 2016, the [UCREF] opened an investigation into the laundering charges, which would concern several million dollars, as well as charges involving illegally obtaining bank loans. The file has been transferred to the public prosecutor's department, which heard Jovenel Moïse at the end of January [2017]. The judicial decision has not been made public yet. (Le Monde 8 Feb. 2017)
1.1 Protest Following the Presidential Election
According to sources, the turnout in the first round of the November 2016 presidential election was 21 percent (Libération 29 Nov. 2016; Le Monde 8 Feb. 2017). Le Monde notes that this [translation] "weak participation" and the contestation of the election results by other candidates undermines the new President's legitimacy (ibid.). Sources indicate that three candidates contested the results of the November 2016 election (ibid.; TV5 Monde 30 Nov. 2016). TV5 Monde adds that [translation] "as the candidates contested the results, several violent demonstrations" took place in Port-au-Prince (ibid.).
1.2 January 2017 Partial Legislative Elections
Sources indicate that PHTK obtained four out of the eight senator seats in the 29 January 2017 elections, while PHTK allies won three other seats (24 heures 3 Feb. 2017; Le Monde 4 Feb. 2017). According to Le Monde, these results give Jovenel Moïse the majority in both chambers of the parliament (ibid.).
2. Objectives and Activities
According to a report published in September 2016 by the Observatoire Citoyen pour l'Institutionnalisation de la Démocratie (OCID), a [translation] "consortium of the Haitian civil society" which aims to strengthen democratic governance in Haiti through the monitoring of institutions and political processes, election observation and advocacy (OCID n.d.), Jovenel Moïse is a center-right politician (ibid. 22 Sept. 2016, 16). Le Nouvelliste, a Haitian newspaper, cites the Director General of Haiti's Justice Department as stating that PHTK is a [translation] "'centre right party' with a liberal disposition that is in favour of the state's withdrawal from the economy (Le Nouvelliste 16 Aug. 2012).
Le Nouvelliste further indicates that Jovenel Moïse's presidential program focuses on agriculture, tourism, construction, and services (ibid. 19 Oct. 2015). Similarly, OCID states that Moïse's election program has [translation] four axes: agriculture, tourism, construction and infrastructure, and entrepreneurship (OCID 22 Sept. 2016, 16). According to sources, Jovenel Moïse committed to reconstitute Haiti's armed forces (HaïtiLibre 21 Sept. 2015; Le Monde 8 Feb. 2017). Le Monde notes that Haiti's armed forces had been dissolved by former President Aristide (ibid.).
Information on the PHTK's activities could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
3. Structure and Members
In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a researcher in political science who has worked on Haiti-related projects at the Tricontinental Centre, a non-governmental organization based in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) and "committed to study, publications and training in issues of development and North-South relations" (CETRI n.d.), stated that PHTK [translation] "is more an informal grouping around a candidate for the [presidential] elections than a genuine structure" (Researcher 17 Feb. 2017). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
Sources indicate that the following individuals occupy leadership roles within the PHTK:
- President: Ann Valérie [Ann-Valerie] Timothée Milfort (PHTK n.d.; jovenelmoise.ht 31 May 2016; Le Nouvelliste 10 June 2016);
- Vice-president: MarieYanick Mézile (HaïtiLibre 24 July 2016) or Yanick Mézile (Mag Haiti 20 Mar. 2015).
The [translation] "Executive bureau" (Bureau exécutif) section of the website of PHTK, lists Ann Valérie Timothée Milfort as president, Jean Renel Sanon as secretary, and Grégory Mayard-Paul as treasurer (PHTK n.d.). Corroborating information and information on the functions of the Bureau exécutif could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
A list of members of Haiti's Chamber of Deputies, including PHTK, provided by Haiti-Référence, a US-based website offering [translation] "a global vision of Haiti's society and culture through reliable basic information, references and the identification of major historical facts" (Haiti-Référence 7 Oct. 2016), is attached to this Response (Attachment 1). A list of members of Haiti's Senate, including PHTK, provided by Haiti-Référence, is also attached to this Response (Attachment 2).
Sources indicate that in August 2012, when PHTK was officially created, the Director General of Haiti's Justice Department stated that the party had submitted a list of 5,000 members (Le Nouvelliste 16 Aug. 2012; HaïtiLibre 18 Aug. 2012). Further and corroborating information on membership numbers could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
4. Documents Issued to Members
Information on documents issued to members of PHTK could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Note
[1] The UCREF is a Haitian agency whose mission is to [translation] "prevent the use of the financial system for money laundering and financing of terrorism" (Le Nouvelliste 8 Sept. 2015).
References
24 heures. 3 February 2017. "Victoire du parti du président élu haïtien." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Agence France Presse (AFP). 5 January 2017. Amelie Baron. "Jovenel Moïse, 'l'homme-banane' devenu président d'Haïti." (Factiva)
HaïtiLibre. 24 July 2016. "Haiti - Politic: The PHTK Claims the Mayor of Port-au-Prince." [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016]
HaïtiLibre. 21 September 2015. "Haïti - Présidentielle 2015: Jovenel Moïse, programme et promesses..." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
HaïtiLibre. 18 August 2012. "Haïti - Politique : Le Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale officiellement formé." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Haiti-Référence. 7 October 2016. "0100.- Introduction." [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]
Jovenelmoise.ht. 31 May 2016. "La plateforme PHTK condamne l'incendie de la HPS." [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]
Mag Haiti. 20 March 2015. "Inscription et confirmation des partis politiques aux élections." [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]
Le Monde. 8 February 2017. Jean-Michel Caroit. "Jovenel Moïse investi président d'Haïti." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Le Monde. 4 February 2017. "Législatives partielles en Haïti : le parti de Jovenel Moïse sort vainqueur." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Le Monde. 7 June 2016. « Haïti : le premier tour de la présidentielle annulé, de nouvelles dates annoncées ». [Accessed 14 July 2017]
Le Nouvelliste. 10 June 2016. "PHTK et alliés s'unissent pour exiger le départ de Privert le 14 juin." [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]
Le Nouvelliste. 19 October 2015. "Jovenel Moïse promet continuité, correction et innovation." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Le Nouvelliste. 8 September 2015. "Un nouveau directeur général installé à l'UCREF." [Accessed 24 Feb. 2017]
Le Nouvelliste. 16 August 2012. "Parti haïtien Tèt Kale, le pouvoir se dote d'un 'chapeau légal'." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Libération. 29 November 2016. Aude Massiot. "L'élection de Jovenel Moïse, 'une catastrophe' pour Haïti." [Accessed 20 Feb. 2017]
Observatoire Citoyen pour l'Institutionnalisation de la Démocratie (OCID). 22 September 2016. Fritz Dorvilier. "Analyse des programmes politiques de candidats à l'élection présidentielle de 2015-2016." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Observatoire Citoyen pour l'Institutionnalisation de la Démocratie (OCID). N.d. "Qui nous sommes nous ?" [Accessed 20 Feb. 2017]
Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale (PHTK). N.d. "Le Bureau Exécutif." [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]
Radio France internationale (RFI). 29 November 2016. "Présidentielle en Haïti: Jovenel Moïse donné vainqueur dès le premier tour." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Researcher, Tricontinental Centre. 17 February 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.
Tricontinental Centre (CETRI). N.d. "About." [Accessed 20 Feburary 2017]
TV5 Monde. 30 November 2016. Léa Baron. "Haïti: qui est Jovenel Moïse, le nouveau président ?" [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017]
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Haiti - Embassy in Canada; Organization of American States - Haiti Office; Parti Haitien Tèt Kale.
Internet sites, including: Alter Presse; Anmwe News; BBC; ecoi.net; France 24; Freedom House; Haiti Observer; Haiti Press Network; International Foundation for Electoral Systems; Political Handbook of the World; UN - Refworld; US - Department of State.
Attachments
- Haiti-Références. 23 February 2017. "2220.- Parlement Haitien: La Chambre des Députés."
- Haiti-Références. 23 February 2017. "2210.- Parlement Haitien: Le Sénat de la République."
