Diaspora remembers the man nominated for Prime Minister

Laurent Lamothe, 39, is the latest nominee pegged to replace Dr. Garry Conille as Prime Minister of Haiti. Although currently Haiti's foreign minister, it is Lamothe's strong connection to Miami that has won him much support among South Florida's Haitian-American Diaspora.

Miami resident Madelline Savoy remembers Lamothe as a gifted academic who left Haiti with high grades to pursue a bachelor's degree at Barry University.

"I recall him as a keen, analytical and articulate student, a gentleman and a people person, but although he was a political science student he never expressed any political ambition," said Savoy.

After graduating in 1996, Lamothe pursued a master's degree in business management at St. Thomas University. An associate of Lamothe at St. Thomas said he showed promise as an "outstanding entrepreneur."

In 1998, Lamothe founded Global Voice Group – a South Africa based Telecommunications Company that gained international success. In 2008 the international accounting firm Ernst and Young named Lamothe Entrepreneur of the Year.

Simon, a Port-au-Prince civil servant and acquaintance of Lamothe, said he wasn't surprised about Lamothe's appointment to Martelly's Cabinet, but was surprised he was assigned to foreign affairs instead of finance or commerce, because "Lamothe has an outstanding reputation as a strong businessman."

Although Simon expressed high respect for Lamothe, he and many others believe that becoming prime minister may not prove to be a wise decision for him.

One female business consultant said she thinks that he would be "best advised" to remain as an advisor.

"Things aren't going right for Martelly, and if he fails and Lamothe is prime minister he would be tarnished. He has too good a future to risk this," she said. In addition, "any close friend or associate of Martelly is likely to be turned down because Martelly has little support in parliament."

One Port-au-Prince businessman, Claude, believes Lamothe has the respect of the Haitian and international business community, and would help Haiti establish a strong economic foundation for employment growth. But, "although I am confident he would be a good prime minister, I fear parliament is going to find reasons not to approve him," said Claude

Last week Martelly announced his nomination of Lamothe, whose appointment awaits approval by parliament. His first two nominees however were rejected, while his third, Conille, recently resigned because of alleged differences with Martelly.