With Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigning, Haitian stakeholders were working hard to establish a transitional government council in the hopes of bringing order to the impoverished country facing a severe problem of gang violence.
Following an emergency conference on Monday that included representatives from the United States, the United Nations, and the Caribbean, among others, a plan for Haitians to establish a Transitional Presidential Council that will manage the country until elections can be conducted was produced.
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Since 2016, Haiti has not held a general election, and the country does not have a president or parliament. After being slain in 2021, President Jovenel Moise failed.
Nearly two weeks ago, gangs that dominate much of the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, began a campaign claiming they were going to overthrow Henry, plunging the nation into a violent crisis, and issuing threats of starvation and even civil war.
After traveling to Kenya to finalize a now-frozen plan to command a UN-approved police force to bring peace to Haiti, Henry found himself trapped in Puerto Rico.
When the council rose late on Monday, he said he had decided to step down.
Seven voting members of the transitional committee will come from the commercial sector, political parties, and the Montana Group, a coalition of civil society organizations that had suggested an interim administration in 2021 following Moise’s murder.
Additionally, the church and civic society will each have two non-voting representatives on the council.
The body will designate a temporary prime minister expeditiously.
The US State Department stated that the council should be established in 24 or 48 hours, but the negotiations are proving to be difficult, and most of the parties AFP contacted stated they were still far from an agreement.
Parties close to Moise have selected their delegate to the transitional body but politicians loyal to Henry are still in disagreement over who will represent them.
“We’re talking about political parties, which have not been able to see eye to eye over the last few years,” stated Ivan Briscoe, the director of the Latin American and Caribbean program of the International Crisis Group.
Henry stated that since he is leaving, perhaps “they will look to the national interest and leave aside their party interests for a while until the elections.”
Shops were open on March 13, 2024, the day of the event, and life was gradually getting back to normal in Port-au-Prince, which has seen a spike in gang violence in recent weeks, according to an AFP correspondent.
After being shuttered for two weeks, some government offices were reopening, and buses were operating. However, the airport and schools in the city remained closed.
The violence has forced the European Union, as well as several other nations, to evacuate their diplomatic staff.
The UN said that it would commence, “reducing the footprint of non-essential personnel,” however, that “colleagues who carry out life-saving activities will remain in Haiti to continue operations.”
While many locals applauded Henry’s departure, others expressed concern about the actions of the strong gangs, which dominate large portions of the nation and 80% of the city, as Haiti attempts to recover.
Henry was stated by Emmanuel, a guy who declined to provide his last name “was the biggest obstacle we had.”
“He did not really have a plan for what to do with the country. We need a fast mechanism to replace him, “Emmanuel noted.
Jean Dieuchel, a different Haitian, said “It is now up to the people to decide who should be prime minister and who should be president. These people should be Haitian patriots and they should have a sense of national sovereignty.”
However, Kenya opted on Tuesday to postpone its intention to command an international police force in Haiti sponsored by the UN, citing the need to wait until the country had a government, as a hint of the difficult path ahead.
