A new transitional framework was formally established on April 12,2024, following weeks of tense negotiations, to govern Haiti for the next two years and lay the groundwork for future elections. The official gazette of Haiti, the Moniteur, published an executive order that formally established the new nine-member transitional presidential council.
The new executive panel, which will share authority with a freshly nominated prime minister, is formally established by this publication. However, the new council must first be sworn in, and some members are demanding that this ceremony take place within the National Palace, which has been the target of many attempts by armed groups to seize control of the country’s emblem of authority. Following their oath of office, the members will select one of their seven voting representatives to serve as president, and then they will start the challenging process of selecting a new prime minister to succeed departing Prime Minister Ariel Henry. At the request of leaders of the Caribbean Community, who had grown tired of Henry as a strong group of gangs urged his removal, Washington compelled Henry to retire last month.
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While Henry was in Kenya supporting an agreement for the deployment of an international force to Haiti, the gangs organized coordinated attacks on critical governmental facilities in Port-au-Prince. Although the new council had composed its own order to be published, Henry’s departing government chose a more condensed seven-page version after some ministers voiced concerns about the constitutionality of the new executive authority and the considerable amount of power they had granted themselves.
Henry’s administration additionally chose to release two distinct decrees to adhere as closely as possible to the terms of the Haitian constitution and the agreement reached in Jamaica last month when the political agreement was mediated with assistance from the 15-member Caribbean Community, or CARICOM.
The first order, which was released recently, lists the nine sectors that will be represented on the presidential council; the actual names of the panelists are expected to appear in a second order on the regulations and processes of the presidential council, which is scheduled to be published on April 13, 2023. In a recent statement, Caribbean leaders asserted regarding Haiti, “The establishment of the nine-member broad-based, politically inclusive council signals the possibility of a new beginning.”
“It is also clear that one of the first priorities of the newly installed presidential council will be to urgently address the security situation so that Haitians can go about their daily lives in a normal manner; safely access food, water and medical services; children can return to school; women can move around without fear of horrific abuses; and so that businesses can reopen.” The regional alliance declared that it is prepared to support Haiti in what will yet be “daunting challenges ahead.”
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, recently emphasized that the US is still dedicated to helping the council and its partners, CARICOM, achieve its goals. Miller stated that the council “helps pave the way for free and fair elections and the expedited deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission.”
Miller commended the citizens of the French-speaking Caribbean country stating, “We applaud Haitians for their commitment to move forward in a spirit of reconciliation and national dialogue.”
“The security situation in Haiti remains untenable due to the violence caused by gangs that claim to represent the Haitian people but thrive on violence and misery. Gangs have shut down key infrastructure and economic sites that are lifelines for fuel, humanitarian aid, and other vital supplies, and continue to strip Haitians of their rights to food, education, and healthcare.” Henry said on March 11 that he would step down following the installation of the presidential council. To maintain stability in the unstable nation, Henry and his administration will, however, continue to rule under the directive issued by his council of ministers until a new prime minister is chosen.
Since vicious gangs have forced the closure of Port-au-Prince’s main international airport and ports for more than a month, it is imperative that the new leadership structure and the departing one work together. More than a month has passed since the political agreement was mediated by Caribbean leaders, assisted by the US and other countries, during a crucial emergency conference in Kingston between the rival political groups of Haiti.
Unable to depart Haiti, the Haitian delegates engaged in a video conference with members of the alliance endorsing Henry as well as numerous others striving to assume the nation’s leadership following President Jovenel Moïse’s July 2021 assassination. Roughly two months before Moïse’s passing, Moïse selected Henry, a neurosurgeon, to be his seventh prime minister in four years; however, Moïse was slain before he could formally install Henry.
After they supported Henry’s appointment after a power struggle between interim prime minister Claude Joseph and the head of the Haitian Senate, Joseph Lambert—who has since been sanctioned by the Biden administration—the timing of the appointment cast doubt on Henry’s legitimacy and exposed the United States, the United Nations, Canada, and France to criticism.
Joseph, who started his political party, has become a significant figure in the construction of the new presidential council and a power broker. Given the escalating crisis that Haiti is experiencing, it will be crucial for the members of the new transition panel to overcome internal strife and paralysis inside the governmental framework. Since February 29, a coalition of armed groups has initiated an unparalleled surge of violence throughout the nation, resulting in the closure of Port-au-Prince’s international and domestic airports for a month, which has affected the country’s primary seaport and significant enterprises.
An attack on the two biggest prisons in the nation resulted in the escape of almost 4,000 prisoners, while hospitals, schools, police stations, and private enterprises were set on fire and plundered. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the press prior to the release of the order, “This morning, our colleagues at the International Organization for Migration told us that since the end of February, because of insecurity, close to 95,000 people have left Port-au-Prince’s metropolitan area to seek refuge in the provinces.” She added, “As we have been telling you, those communities also that are trying to absorb the displaced people are already under stress.”
Following three years of gang violence that have forced over 360,000 people to flee their homes, more than 160,000 of whom are living in filthy displacement camps in the capital, and more than 1,550 Haitian deaths and 800 injuries as a result of the violence, the United Nations World Food Program issued a warning this week that the country may run out of food by the end of the month. Henry was in Kenya finalizing a deal to send a Multinational Security Support mission when the bloody rebellion broke out.
However, the East African country has subsequently decided to halt that operation, citing Henry’s resignation announcement. While it was expected that the new council would enable the mission to be deployed quickly, that now seems doubtful. Not only does the mission still have financial challenges, but several presidential council members have indicated a preference to choose an alternative path. Furthermore, the freshly created “Political Agreement for a Peaceful and Orderly Transition,” which will direct the following steps, has no mention of the security operation headed by Kenya.
Rather, council members and the organizations they speak for are discussing the restoration of public safety and defining “with international partners the conditions for effective support to Haitian security forces, respecting national sovereignty.”
A National Security Council will be established to define collaboration with foreign partners, according to a different portion of the agreement. Not long after the presidential council was established, the White House declared that President Joe Biden had directed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to spend $60 million on supplies and instruction for the newly established Multinational Security Support mission for Haiti. This directive was made with reference to a little-known presidential power. At 3:39 PM on April 12, 2024, this story was first published.
