The new government of Haiti must work urgently to counter the security and humanitarian crisis of the country whose democratic institutions are drifting. This is in essence the message sent Wednesday, March 5 by the Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, and his new Prime Minister, Joseph Jouthe, to their government.

"The situation is serious and we don't have much time! The people are hungry and they need security! Get to work quickly!", Ordered Jovenel Moïse during the installation ceremony of the new cabinet ministerial, organized at the presidential palace.

"This is a serious hour: everything is urgent, everything is a priority," said Joseph Jouthe, who was appointed to the post of Prime Minister on Monday.

A lasting institutional crisis

Haiti is plunged into an intense political crisis since the resignation, in March 2019, of Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant. Joseph Jouthe is the third head of government that Jovenel Moïse has appointed since this departure.

The legislature has never ratified any of these choices, preventing a government from taking office. The legislative elections not having been organized in the fall of 2019, the parliament has been inoperative since January: the ratification of Joseph Jouthe and his cabinet cannot therefore be carried out according to constitutional rules.

Faced with this political crisis, poverty is worsening in the Caribbean country, weighed down for decades by massive unemployment and inflation now above 20%.

A third of the population today is in need of emergency aid, among which one million Haitians are in a situation of severe food insecurity, a level which precedes the situation of famine according to the classification used by the World Food Program.

In this context of socio-political crisis, Haiti has been recording for several weeks an increase in kidnappings for ransom, which are added to the usual violence of armed gangs in poor neighborhoods.

Wednesday, the Haitian president affirmed that it was necessary "to dialogue with the armed bands, the bandits, so that they can lay down their arms if not their place is in prison or in the cemetery".

This worsening of the security situation comes at a time when the Haitian national police (PNH), the only police force deployed throughout the territory, is undermined by internal conflicts.

Several demonstrations by PNH agents were organized in the capital Port-au-Prince to demand better working conditions, demanding the right to form a union, which would ensure transparency in negotiations with their hierarchy.

With AFP

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