Haiti: Prime Minister Ariel Henry agrees to organize elections by August 2025
The Haitian Prime Minister made this commitment during the Caribbean Community summit, which ended this Wednesday.
Haiti, plagued by gang violence that controls the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince, has not had elections since 2016. Ariel Henri has led the country as Prime Minister since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse , a little less than three years ago.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, seen in January 2023 in Port-au-Prince (illustrative image).
© AFP/Richard Pierrin
By: Christophe Paget Follow
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At Caricom, the discussions were long, but fruitful according to the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis: “
Concessions were made to advance the political process, including organizing general elections to restore the government in accordance with the Constitution , no later than August 21,
2025.”
A mission must be sent to the country to assess needs, a mission “
led by Caricom and the United Nations with the support of partners – Canada, the United States and the Organization of American States
”.
The team is due to submit its report by March 31, in just over a month.
Also read: International mission in Haiti: “The gangs are waiting to see what it will look like”
But the Haitian Prime Minister and the opposition must also agree to organize these general elections, while for years the country's political staff have been unable to agree on anything.
Caricom plans to invite Haitian officials to a meeting to resolve this political impasse.
But everyone will have to show good will, warned the President of Guyana Irfaan Ali.
“
We insist that each stakeholder recognize that they will not get everything they want, but that
Haiti
must get what it needs.
Therefore, every stakeholder in Haiti must also give so that Haiti gets what it needs
,” he said.
A new promise
But this is not the first time that Ariel Henry has made this promise.
In 2022, he agreed with certain political parties to hold elections and leave power at the beginning of this month, on February 7.
This was not the case: “
he was not able to create a security environment conducive to any electoral campaign, or to make the vote credible
,” explains Jacques Nesi, political scientist, associate researcher at the Caribbean Social Sciences Laboratory.
“He also had to commit to having the broadest possible political compromise
”, but only managed to create, through “
agreements without a future
” “
odds and ends alliances
”.
Caricom
itself has tried to help find a political agreement, without success.
No elections therefore, no departure of Ariel Henry on February 7, and thousands of Haitians in the streets at the beginning of the month to demand that he leave his post.
For Jacques Nesi, if Ariel Henry committed to Caricom to organize elections, it was “
no doubt to try to hang on to power.
Its main objective is to keep power without giving a precise direction to the country and to the populations at bay
.”
A year and a half to organize the elections
In any case, to organize elections, a year and a half will not be too much for the political scientist.
Already, in Haiti, it is an independent administrative entity which organizes the elections: the Provisional Electoral Council, made up of nine members from different political and social forces.
And to find a compromise between these different forces, it will take at least six months, estimates Jacques Nesi.
It is then necessary to organize the ballot, that is to say the registration of voters, knowing, underlines the specialist, that the current electoral map “
is the subject of discord within the political class, and undoubtedly should be he consider a new card
.
Finally, the population must have confidence in the government which would organize this election.
“
That’s the whole problem with Ariel Henry
,” emphasizes Jacques Nesi.
Inspire confidence not only in populations, but also in political actors
.”
As for the presence of an international force, believes the political scientist, “
it remains essential as a solution to guarantee the organization of a serious and honest election in Haiti
”.
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