Haiti's parliament returned to work Monday with a new problem: two newly elected senators can't take office because one has been charged with a crime and the other was allegedly convicted 34 years ago.
"Two senators were elected from the Grand'Anse (department), and I am the only one who is here," a newly sworn-in Sen. Sorel Jacinthe said.
He was referring to Sen.-elect Guy Philippe, a notorious former -rebel leader who was arrested Thursday by Haiti's anti-drug trafficking police and flown to Miami by federal agents later that night. He was charged with drug trafficking after eluding police for more than a decade.
"I deplore what has happened," Jacinthe said.
Philippe's arrest sparked angry outbursts and accusations of a U.S.-orchestrated "kidnapping" during Monday's gathering of the National Assembly. The 30-member Senate must figure out what to do about his empty seat.
At the same time, the Senate also is waiting for the Provisional Electoral Council to decide on the fate of another senator-elect, Wilfrid Gelin. He has been accused of changing his name from Wilfred to Wilfrid to hide the fact he plead guilty in 1992 to trying to smuggle undocumented people into the United States.
"This is unprecedented," Senate President Ronald Lareche said about Philippe's case. "There is no guidance for someone who has been arrested on drug charges, only if they were to die."
He said Haiti's elections body, the Provisional Electoral Council, would have to tell the Senate what the legal options are: "We don't know yet what to do."
Lemoine Bonneau, a journalist who has published a book on the Haitian parliament, said that after it is established that Philippe has failed to show up in the Senate chamber, the Senate can request a new election to replace him and finish his six-year term, Bonneau said.
A member of the electoral council said it's too early to decide what should happen to Philippe's seat. The former police officer faces up to life in prison in the United States on charges of cocaine trafficking and money laundering. He was ordered held without bond last week during an appearance in U.S. federal court in Miami. His arraignment is scheduled for Friday.
In the case of the other missing senator, what happens next is a lot foggier.
In late December, elections officials referred Gelin's case to a commission to look into allegations that the newly elected senator had been sentenced to 90 days in U.S. federal prison and three years probation.
Gelin's detractors have circulated court records showing the 1982 conviction for a Wilfred Gelin, and a Florida driver's license bearing the Haitian politician's likeness. The license is registered to a Wilfred Gelin of Pembroke Pines, and a driving history shows him to be a U.S. citizen. If Gelin is a U.S. citizen, that alone would disqualify him from holding public office in Haiti, which does not recognize dual nationality. Haiti's electoral law also prevents people convicted of crimes to run for office, though some argue that a U.S. conviction doesn't apply.
Gelin has dismissed the allegations.
As lawmakers from both chambers gathered Monday, however, the question wasn't what to do about about Philippe's and Gelin's seats. Instead, the focus was on Philippe's arrest, and how it was possible for a Haitian citizen to "to be deported to the United States."
One deputy in the 119-member Lower Chamber even likened Philippe's arrest to the famous anti-Nazi poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller, "First They Came for the Socialists." Others tried unsuccessfully to delay the opening of parliament by requesting a closed meeting to discuss Philippe's arrest.
They said Interim President Jocelerme Privert and Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles owed them an explanation.
"We were not well informed on what happened," newly elected Sen. Joseph Lambert said. "Let's do it here."
Not everyone, however, agreed that Monday's session was the proper venue to discuss Philippe's arrest and its implications.
"I condemn what happened to Sen. Guy Philippe," said Deputy Sinal Bertrand, a member of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party. "But it's not the first time it has happened. It has happened to a Lavalas senator before and you parliamentarians had sufficient time to ensure that this wouldn't happen again."
Privert and Jean-Charles did not address Philippe's arrest in their separate addresses. Instead, each reminded lawmakers that political stability is important as the nation moves forward after a drawn-out presidential election.
Eight senators still must be elected in a runoff on Jan. 29, which include voting for thousands of local offices.
Haiti faces huge economic challenges, like dwindling foreign aid and a depreciating currency. It is also still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Matthew, which caused $2.8 billion worth of damage when it struck the southern peninsula Oct. 4.
"We need to start looking at country, and not personal interests," said Lareche, the Senate president. "We have a new government, a new president."
Last week, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council confirmed businessman Jovenel Moise as the country's 58th president. His opponents ��Jude Celestin, Jean-Charles Moise and Moise Jean-Charles �� refused to recognize the results.
