PORT-AU-PRINCE (Haiti), Feb. 7 (AP) — Haiti’s prime minister on Monday formally appointed a transitional council tasked with securing long-awaited general elections in a country with no elected institutions.
While many doubted the commission’s creation would help the government hold elections this year as expected, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said it was an important step towards that goal.
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“This is the beginning of the end of the dysfunctional institutions of our democracy,” he said.
Haiti has been unable to hold elections since the assassination of President Jouvernell Moise in July 2021. Henry took power shortly after Moise’s death and promised his government would do just that.
The terms of the remaining 10 senators expired in early January, leaving no elected officials in the country of more than 11 million people.
Henry called on all Haitians to unite and fight for change as the country continues to spiral, with poverty and hunger deepening and violence surging. The prime minister also thanked the three members of the committee for agreeing to join the government in the “noble and difficult task of serving our country in these difficult times”.
The three members of the committee are Calixte Fleuridor and the Haitian Protestant Confederation, who will represent civil society; Mirlande Manigat, a law professor, former first lady and presidential candidate, who will represent political parties; and Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce, who will represent the private sector. department.
The committee will also be tasked with working with government officials to reform Haiti’s constitution, implement economic reforms and reduce violence as gangs continue to grow stronger since the president’s assassination, leading to an increase in killings, kidnappings and rapes.
It is known that the High Transition Council will also select the members of the Provisional Election Commission, which needs to be in place before electoral planning can begin.
Henry stressed that elections cannot be held until Haiti becomes safer: “It is unacceptable for a country to ask politicians to run if the country cannot keep them safe,” he said.
He noted that the new council also supports his call to deploy foreign troops to help quell violence in Haiti, a request he made in October that has still not been heeded by the UN Security Council. (Associated Press)
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