Haiti’s transitional council have finalised a deal for the selection of a temporary government to take charge of the country as it grapples with crippling gang violence and social unrest.
French news agency, AFP reported that the accord establishes a nine-member Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) constituted of seven voting members and two observers which represent political parties, the private sector and civil society, that will pave the way for presidential elections by early 2026.
“The political agreement expresses a common vision of the transition constructed by the sectors and represents a responsible commitment to the Haitian people. It indicates the broad outlines of the road map for the transition period that the Presidential Council will be responsible for executing, jointly with the next consensus government, with the aim of putting the country back on the path to stability, peace, union and progress,” said a press release signed by all nine members of the CPT.
According to the document seen by AFP and sent to CARICOM, the transitionary council’s mandate “will end on 7 February 2026”. The agreement sets out the council’s three priorities as “security, constitutional and institutional reforms, and elections”.
Under it, a national security council of Haitian experts will reportedly be created to oversee agreements on international security assistance, including on dispatch of the UN-backed mission.
This comes after some political leaders in Haiti rebuffed CARICOM’s proposal to resolve the nation’s instability, insisting on their own three-member presidential council until elections. Jean-Charles Moise of the ‘Pitit Desalin’ party rejected CARICOM’s seven-member council, calling it insignificant and not in the best interests of the Haitian population.
“The CARICOM sponsored proposal has absolutely no importance in our eyes and for the Haitian people,” said Moise when the plan was announced following an emergency summit in Jamaica.
Since then, powerful gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, considered one of the most powerful men in the country, has expressed willingness to consider a ceasefire and engage in talks about the country’s political future if his group is included.
However, he warned of impending violence, describing a recent pause in fighting as temporary. Cherizier stressed the need for a new strategy for advancement but emphasised that there has been no decision to end gang activity. Despite claiming to have respect for CARICOM, he criticised the current political process overseen by the bloc, arguing that it favours corrupt politicians and the elite.
The CPT agreement is widely seen as a pivotal step for the country to allow for operationalisation of plans to restore rule of law as the humanitarian crisis escalates.
The UN reported serving 500,000 hot meals to 76,000 displaced individuals and distributing 4mn litres of drinking water. Efforts to aid Port-au-Prince’s internally displaced face gang resistance, evident in a recent five-hour shootout over hijacked rice cargo on a ship last weekend.
While launching a new UN Human Rights Report on the country, UN Haiti expert, William O’Neill said that he believes that Haiti now requires between 4,000 and 5,000 international police if they are to stand a chance to bring the violence to an end.
Noting that Kenya’s President William Ruto has expressed an unwillingness to deploy police without a new Haitian leader installed, the UN report reiterated the need for urgent deployment of a multinational security mission and called for stricter national and international controls to reduce the trafficking of weapons and ammunition to gangs.
“We had said that if there was a multinational security force, we would work with the Regional Security System and we would send our people through that mechanism. Nothing has changed yet, but obviously we cannot do anything until such time that the Presidential Transitional Council in Haiti determines that they have identified a person who is going to be functioning as president and that person has to give the go-ahead for the process to begin,” said Barbados Foreign Minister Kyrie Symmonds when quizzed on whether his country will still participate in the mission.
The UN Security Council approved the international mission to Haiti in October 2023 and the US, Canada and other countries have pledged hundreds of millions to support its deployment. Despite this, and a signed agreement between Haiti and Kenya, there remains no firm date for its operationalisation or precise details on which countries will be involved.
Source: Caribbean Insight – April 2024 – Issue 8.