Editorial | Is Haiti ready?

As midwife to Haiti’s transitional arrangement, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) should signal its position on whether the country can hold credible elections in four months time and what may be necessary to advance the process.

For at the Security Council last week, there were suggestions that the interim leaders in Port-au-Prince might not be aggressive enough about pursuing the agenda for democracy and meeting the deadline for the vote.

“The transition clock is ticking [and] I am concerned that a steady path towards the restoration of democratic governance is yet to emerge,” Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the secretary general’s special representative for Haiti and head of the UN’s integrated office in the country, told the council.

There were other statements of concern about the pace of the transition process.

While The Gleaner appreciates the disquiet and urgency to return Haiti to democratic rule, we believe that there serious questions to be answered about whether the current security environment is good enough for Haitians to hold credible elections before the end of February 2026, and if a vote can take place without the full deployment of the promised 5,500 member Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

Haiti hasn’t held an election for nearly a decade – not since the 2016 presidential vote that brought Jovenel Moïse to power. And it has been without a president, as well as a national assembly, since Mr Moïse’s assassination, reportedly by foreign mercenaries, in 2021.

In the latter part of Mr Moïse’s presidency, when he largely ruled by decree in the absence of a legislature, there was dispute over whether he had extended his term.

PROBLEMS WORSENED

Since Mr Moïse’s assassination Haiti’s chronic political instability and security problems have worsened. Armed gangs effectively control large swathes of the capital and other parts of the country. They have been responsible for thousands of murders and displaced hundreds of thousands of Haitians from their homes.

Last year, a CARICOM Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of former regional prime ministers (Perry Christie, The Bahamas; Bruce Golding, Jamaica; Kenny Anthony, St Lucia) were largely responsible for prodding Haitian political interests to the establishment of a nine-members of a Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) to govern the country until election. The TPC, seven of whose members have a vote, has a rotating chairmanship.

Among the council’s mandate was to prepare for elections early next year. That, however, presumes that Haitians would have enjoyed an environment of relative security, where voters could cast ballots in reasonable safety. That, to this newspaper, seems questionable at this juncture and the prospects for a turn-around by February 26, 2026 seems, at best, exceedingly slim. Murderous gangs still operate with impunity.

A Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission was to help the Haitian national police in bringing the gangs to heel, but has had very limited success. While Kenya contributed nearly 800 police officers to the force, it never reached beyond 1,100 members, about half of its intended strength. The mission was also plagued by limited funding.

In September, at the end of the MSS’ mandate, the Security Council agreed to its transition to the GSF, with up to 5,500 members. Although the GSF has the endorsement of the Security Council, it, as was the case with the MSS, is not a UN force. Its members operate without a formal control command.

ABSENCE OF INFORMATION

More critical, however, is the absence of concrete information on when the GSF will be fully deployed and which countries will provide the additional personnel. N0r is it clear who will fund the operation.

It is in this context of uncertainty that Haiti’s electoral officials have continued technical work in preparation for the elections, to the backdrop to questions about the adequacy of the effort and disagreements over how to proceed on a draft. Some groups argue that the security environment is not right to submit the document to a constituent assembly for debate.

At last week’s Security Council meeting, America’s UN ambassador, Mike Waltz, urged the international community to stand with Haiti and help it take back the country from gangs.

“The political class and the private sector in Haiti must do its part as well, in support of a democratically elected government,” Mr Waltz said.

We agree!

However, the question on which CARICOM must weigh in is whether conditions are right to hold a vote to deliver “a democraticall elected government”.

A failed exercise that doesn’t deliver the genuine will of the people will further sap the confidence of Haitians and their commitment to the democratic process. Which would be a setback for democracy.