Haiti parliament leaders seek common position out of political crisis

The president of Haiti’s lower chamber of deputies said he plans to meet Thursday with Senate President Simon Desras in hopes of finding “a common position” on ending a crippling political crisis that has triggered growing anti-government protests.

“The solution to the crisis has to come through the institutions of this country,” said Jacques Stevenson Timoléon, rejecting calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and his government by a presidential commission asking Haiti to implement a series of “calming measures” to stave off the worsening crisis.

Timoléon’s efforts come as U.S. envoys Thomas Shannon and Thomas Adams arrived in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday for talks with political leaders about the crisis.

In addition to the meeting, he said, talks are ongoing over an election deal. One proposal is to lower the Senate’s quorum to get around six opposition senators who have been blocking passage of an electoral law on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional.

This story was originally published December 10, 2014 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Haiti parliament leaders seek common position out of political crisis."