Boniface Alexandre

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Boniface Alexandre

Boniface Alexandre (born July 31, 1936 in Ganthier ) is a Haitian judge, politician and was President of Haiti .

biography

Studies and professional career

After attending school, Alexandre completed a law degree and received the support of his uncle, the lawyer and later Prime Minister Martial Célestin . After completing his studies, he worked for twenty-five years as a lawyer at Cabinet Lamarre, where he specialized as a lawyer specializing in commercial contracts and divorce proceedings.

In 1990 he was appointed judge at the Supreme Court ( Cour suprême ). In June 2001, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appointed him President of the Supreme Court. As such, he gained a reputation as a respected judge within what is considered a corrupt legal system . In addition, he stood up as chief judge for the fight against corruption and incompetence in the courts. In addition to his work as a judge, he was also a professor of law at the Université d'État d'Haïti in Port-au-Prince .

On April 25, 2003, he was made an honorary citizen of Lafayette , Louisiana .

Acting President of Haiti from 2004 to 2006

After President Aristide's dismissal and flight, he was sworn in as President-in-Office by Prime Minister Yvon Neptune in the early hours of the morning of February 29, 2004 .

Although he assumed this office, Article 149 of the Haitian Constitution provided for his ratification by Parliament, which had not had a session since January 2004, as the electoral period for most MPs had ended. The constitution also provided for new elections to be held between 45 days and 90 days after the incumbent's resignation, although he was not allowed to stand as incumbent president. In addition, he expressed his personal unwillingness to remain in office as incumbent president beyond this constitutional maximum time after the incumbent Prime Minister Gérard Latortue , who was only appointed by him on March 10, 2004, no longer wanted to remain in office.

Although Alexandre had close ties to the former President Aristide, he did not belong to his Parti Lavalas ("Flaming Tide").

Shortly after his appointment as incumbent president, political opponents accused Aristides of having too close ties to the previous system and that he was not active enough as president of the Supreme Court to declare the Supreme Court's independence from the executive branch .

One of his first activities as President was the submission of an official request to the United Nations Security Council for the deployment of a multinational UN protection force to restore law and order in Haiti, which the UN Security Council granted shortly thereafter.

Although rebel leaders like Guy Philippe have declared their willingness to cooperate with President Alexandre, US politicians in particular saw his role in resolving the conflict in Haiti as a subordinate one and his government as merely a transitional government.

In his first speech as president after his official inauguration on March 8, 2004, he called for national reconciliation, the establishment of a climate of peace and security for all and an emergency plan to combat hunger, poverty and disease. In December 2005 there were bloody student protests for several days during the state visit of the President of the Dominican Republic , Leonel Fernández , over the treatment of Haitian refugees in the neighboring state.

After the presidential elections, which were actually held in February 2006, he handed over the office of President on May 14, 2006 to the election winner, the former President René Préval .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Poonal (press service of the Latin American agencies) of March 9, 2004 ( memento of the original of February 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.npla.de
  2. Press release of the UN Security Council from February 29, 2004
  3. ^ "UN to send peacekeepers to Haiti" , CCN of March 1, 2004
  4. ^ Chronicle of Haiti, March 2004
  5. ^ "In Haiti a long awaited students anti-Dominican protest turns violent" , article in We Haitians
predecessor Office successor
Jean-Bertrand Aristide President of Haiti
February 29, 2004-14. May 2006
René Préval