Jocelerme Privert (; born 1 February 1953) is a Haitian accountant and bureaucrat who served as the interim President of Haiti from 2016 to 2017.

Political career

Early political career

A longtime politician, he first served as the economics and finance minister under Jean-Bertrand Aristide during 2001 and 2002. Aristide reappointed him Minister of Interior and Territorial Communities in 2002 and served until

2004 Haitian coup d'état A coup d'état in Haiti on 29 February 2004, following several weeks of conflict, resulted in the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. On 5 February 2004, a rebel group, called the National Revolutionary Front for the Lib ...

that removed Aristide from the presidency.

Accusation of massacre and incarceration

Privert was accused of involvement in the La Scierie massacre in

Saint-Marc Saint-Marc ( ht, Sen Mak) is a commune in western Haiti in Artibonite departement. Its geographic coordinates are . At the 2003 Census the commune had 160,181 inhabitants. It is one of the biggest cities, second to Gonaïves, between Port-au-P ...

and arrested on 4 April 2004. According to Haitian organizations defending human rights, dozens of people were killed in February 2004 in the town of Saint-Marc, an opposition stronghold at that time. Jocelerme Privert was released after 26 months in prison.

Later political career

After his release from prison, he served as an advisor to then-president

René Préval René Garcia Préval (; 17 January 1943 – 3 March 2017) was a Haitian politician and agronomist who served twice as President of Haiti; once from early 1996 to early 2001, and again from mid 2006 to mid 2011. He was also Prime Minister from ...

. He subsequently ran for a senate seat in a 2008 by-election in Nippes department, but was not elected. He was later, eventually, elected Senator for

Nippes Nippes ( French) or Nip ( Haitian Creole) is one of the ten departments (the highest-level political subdivisions) of Haiti located in southern Haiti. It is the most recently created department, having been split from Grand'Anse in 2003. The ...

department in the 2010 general elections, serving from 26 April 2011 and until he was elected by the Senate to serve as its president. He was also the President of the Senate Committee on Economy and Finance.

Provisional presidency

Privert was elected by the Senate as the provisional President of Haiti on 14 February 2016, pending a general election in no more than 120 days. A general run-off election date later agreed between

Jovenel Moïse Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian entrepreneur and politician, who served as the 43rd President of Haiti from 2017 until his assassination in 2021. He was sworn in as president in February 2017 after winning the ...

and Jude Célestin was originally scheduled to be held on 24 April 2016, but the

Conseil Electoral Provisoire The Provisional Electoral Council ( French: ''Conseil Électoral Provisoire'', , CEP; Haitian Creole: ''Konsèy Elektoral Pwovizwa'') was the electoral commission of Haiti. The body had the sole agency responsible for presidential elections an ...

decided on 5 April 2016 to hold a new election in early October 2016. On 14 June 2016, his presidential term expired, but he remained ''de facto'' president as the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

refused to meet to appoint a successor. On February 7, 2017, he was succeeded by

of the political party Martelly founded, the

Haitian Tèt Kale Party The Haitian Tèt Kale Party (french: Parti Haïtien Tèt Kale, ht, Pati Ayisyen Tèt Kale, PHTK) is a Haitian political party. ''Tèt Kale'' means "Bald Headed" in Haitian Creole. History The party was formally constituted on 16 August 2012. Alt ...

(PHTK) who won the November 2016 election.

Personal life

Privert met his wife, Ginette Michaud, a physician and

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

, in 1986. The couple married in 1988 and had three daughters: Nandie, Fadha, and Nadia. Privert is an accountant. He served in the General Tax Directorate (a governmental agency) from 1979 until the directorate was removed in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Privert, Jocelerme 1954 births 2010s in Haiti 21st-century Haitian politicians Haitian Interior Ministers Living people People from Nippes Presidents of Haiti Presidents of the Senate (Haiti)