Questions remain over the long-awaited transition body tasked with selecting the next prime minister and cabinet.
Haiti has formally established a transitional council to elect a new prime minister, fill a leadership vacuum and restore order to the Caribbean nation ravaged by gang violence.
On Friday, a month after Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced he would resign amid a series of attacks by armed groups in the capital Port-au-Prince, a decree published in the Official Gazette announced the establishment of a presidential interim council.
There was no immediate comment from Prime Minister Henry after the announcement of the decree, leaving doubts as to the viability of the nine-member council, and no details were provided regarding the establishment of the body or the timeframe for selecting a new prime minister and cabinet. .
According to Reuters, the decree also does not list the names of the council members.
He said Henry and the council would rule the country until a new body named his successor.
In a statement, the regional association Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) said the council’s mission is to “return Haiti to a path to dignity, democratic legitimacy, stability and sovereignty, and ensure the proper functioning of state institutions.” It is to do so.” ”.
The decree also said the council would help expedite the deployment of international troops requested by Prime Minister Henry in 2022 to help fight armed groups and an increasingly powerful police force.
The council says it will be based at the National Palace in central Port-au-Prince, which has come under fire multiple times in the past few weeks.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller welcomed the announcement, saying it would help “pave the way for free and fair elections” in the country and facilitate the deployment of multinational forces.
Kim Ives, a journalist with Haiti Liberté newspaper, said that despite the announcement, the political crisis is still far from being resolved.
“All they’ve done so far is publish in journals of record. They don’t actually install them,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The whole thing is completely dysfunctional because different positions of a very divided political class are represented.”
Ives added that some see the creation of the council as a “manufactured” solution in Washington, D.C., and those who participate in it are “considered traitors.”
“Fundamentally, this is never a Haitian solution. It’s a Washington solution.”
political deadlock
Haiti has not held an election since 2016 and has been without a president since Juvenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021.
Henry was in Kenya in February trying to organize an international police deployment when gangs launched a coordinated attack and demanded the 74-year-old step down.
Approximately 4,000 prisoners were released in a mass attack on Haiti’s two largest prisons. Haiti has been largely cut off from the rest of the world as a result of attacks on police stations and raids on the airport.
Since the violence erupted, nearly 95,000 people have fled the capital region as armed groups tighten their grip. With the outgoing government out of office and major ports remaining closed, Haitians lack basic necessities.
According to the United Nations, about 1 million people in this country of 11 million people are at risk of starvation.
Countries including the United States and members of the European Union (EU) have evacuated diplomats and citizens due to the deteriorating security situation.
After the decree was announced, local media reported further shootings in parts of Port-au-Prince.
