The Struggling People's Organization (french: Organisation du peuple en lutte, ht, Òganizasyon Pèp k ap Lite), called until 1996 Lavalas Political Organization (french: Organisation Politique Lavalas, OPL), is a

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

an political party originating from the Lavalas political movement. Formed in 1995, the pro-Aristide Lavalas split from the party in 1996 forming their own Fanmi Lavalas party, at this time the OPL's name was changed from ''Organisation Politique Lavalas'' to its present appellation. This split meant that few of the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

that had previously supported

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince ...

ended up in the new Lavalas (or Fanmi Lavalas). The OPL formed a majority of the Haitian Parliament from 1995 to 1997, and named

Rosny Smarth Rosny Smarth (born October 19, 1940) was Prime Minister of Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antill ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. The OPL was an important supporter of privatization and economic austerity measures, looking to lay off thousands of public sector workers to please international financial institutions. After being declared the losers of the 1997 legislative elections, the OPL denounced the results as fraudulent. OPL has been heavily financed by foreign governmental agencies and took part in the destabilization campaign against Haiti's constitutional government (2001–2004). In the

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

of 7

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

2006, its candidate Paul Denis won 2,62% of the popular vote. The party won in the 7 February 2006 Senate

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

6.0% of the popular vote and 3 out of 31 Senators. In the 7 February and 21 April 2006 Chamber of Deputies

, the party won 10 out of 102 seats. It then formed part of the governing coalition under

Jacques-Édouard Alexis Jacques-Édouard Alexis (born 21 September 1947) is a Haitian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Haiti from 1999 to 2001 and was Prime Minister for a second term from 2006 to 2008 when he was dismissed due to political fallout from fo ...

References

External links

Party website
Foro de São Paulo Political parties in Haiti {{Haiti-party-stub