Opinion | From the Desk of Ray Joseph, former Ambassador of Haiti to Washington

The elections compromised in Haiti

Par Raymond A. Joseph

It’s obvious that the elections scheduled to be held next August 30 for the first round and December 6 for the second and final round won’t be held until there’s agreement between the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP by its French acronym) and Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.

Eight of the nine members of the CEP, except for the representative of the Catholic Church, signed a communiqué which was circulating since June 3, barring Uder Antoine from accessing their office in Pétion-Ville until things are cleared up. For he was named director general of the CEP, following a cabinet meeting on June 2nd when an electoral decree was adopted over objections of the CEP, which is already presided by Jacques Desrosiers, a journalist of good reputation.

The action of the Prime Minister is a usurpation of power with which the CEP overwhelmingly disagrees. Moreover, although Uder Antoine’s name was circulating in the media as the government’s choice for director for 24 hours, he had not been in contact with the CEP.

So, how is this going to be worked out to end the illegitimacy reigning in Haiti since [passage cut off in source image] Moïse to the presidency? That ended abruptly in the early hours of July 7, 2021, when the president was assassinated in the bedroom of his residence in a secured upscale neighborhood above the fashionable suburb of Pétion-Ville. Since then, it’s been downhill for Haiti.

One wonders what the International Community will do next in Haiti. After all, since the Moïse assassination, the international, with the U.S. in the lead, has taken control of Haiti’s governance, beginning with Dr. Ariel Henry, the Prime Minister/President that the CORE Group of leading Western ambassadors in Port-au-Prince named as Haiti’s chief following the assassination of the president [passage cut off in source image] ed while he stopped in the U.S. coming from a visit in Kenya. U.S. pressure is alleged.

Whereupon, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Kingston, Jamaica, arriving on March 11, to huddle with the CARICOM leaders on [passage cut off in source image] headed transitional Haitian presidential Commission, CPT by its French acronym, which came into existence April 12, 2024 in Kingston and was inaugurated in Port-au-Prince on April 25, with a mandate due February 7, 2026.

During its nine (9) months in power, the CPT didn’t accomplish anything that was required, such as establishing security and organizing elections. It failed to do what President Ertha Pascal Trouillot, the first female President of Haiti, did in eight (8) months. Inaugurated March 13, 1990, she delivered the first post-Duvalier democratic elections on December 16, 1990, won by the revolutionary priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

When the CPT mandate ended last February 7, the U.S. officials did the outmost to keep a member of that administration as Prime Minister. We would point out that on that date the U.S. had dispatched three warships to the bay in Port-au-Prince to allow for a smooth operation from CPT to the new leader Fils-Aimé.

Now what’s next for Haiti, which is being used as a political laboratory by the international community? Although nothing is known about the plan of the international bigwigs, the reputable Montana Accord group issued a detailed statement yesterday, June 16 that deserves consideration. Montana calls for “vigilance,” so errors of the past are not repeated.

There shouldn’t be a continuation of Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, but a two-headed leadership, as required by Haiti’s Constitution: A President and a Prime Minister, with capable and respectable citizens in charge.

RAJ
raljo31@yahoo.com

The post FROM THE DESK OF RAY JOSEPH : The elections compromised in Haïti first appeared on Rezo Nòdwès.