Haiti postpones first elections in a decade

Caribbean community governments and friends like Mexico, Brazil, and the United Nations were all hoping that Haiti’s first general elections in a decade would have returned the troubled regional member state to democracy, but few say they are surprised that its interim administration this week postponed the planned Dec. 13 contest until further notice. Back in early 2024, these very groups had rushed along with Haitian stakeholders to an emergency summit in Jamaica to help put together a transitional government that would return the country to democracy, deal with the heavily armed gangs destabilizing life in the capital and related areas and put the economy back on a path to recovery. But just as the electoral council (CEP) was preparing for the first round of voting in December, there were very strong indications that the date was in serious doubt, as up to this week, only about 800,000 or about 10% of the eligible voting population had registered as electors. Officials say that some of the more than a dozen presidential candidates had also not completed their paperwork. Combined with the tenuous security situation, including recent incidents where armed gangs have simply gone into residential and other areas and slaughtered people, the transitional administration decided that it made no sense to go ahead with preparations, as there was no indication that voter registration would increase exponentially and security challenges brought under control. “The period originally scheduled for the electoral campaign has been postponed," the CEP said. "The timetable will be made public as soon as possible. This measure is intended in particular to allow candidates and the political structures concerned to have the necessary time to complete the formalities required under the legal and regulatory framework in force. The council is actively working to finalize an updated electoral calendar, taking into account the new provisions of the electoral decree, as well as the technical and operational requirements of the process. The CEP is actively working to finalize an updated electoral calendar, taking into account the new provisions of the electoral decree, as well as the technical and operational requirements of the process.” For regional governments, which have deployed a three-person team of former prime ministers to especially work with local stakeholders many times since 2024, the island nation remains the only one without a democratic government. Its last elections were held in 2016, meaning that the elected mandate of thousands of lawmakers, mayors, deputies and other officials have long expired. Haiti’s woes were not made any easier after heavily armed Colombian and other mercenaries had assassinated Jovenel Moise, the last elected president, at his private residence in early July of 2021. The chaos which ensued after has created a major opening for the gangs to control life in the capital, and related areas. An example of this occurred with dire consequences in late August when gangs invaded the Kenscoff neighborhood outside the capital killing 47 people including children and civilians hiding in a church. As an indication of the inertia and malaise towards preparations for the original election date, the electoral body stated that only 12 presidential candidates and a mere 270 candidates for the senate had officially indicated intentions of participating. To help speed up the process for when a new date for the first round is named, authorities say they will open up dozens of online portals for digital registration and eliminate some of the paperwork requirements for candidates to ease frustration with the process. The candidate registration period had been scheduled to close Oct. 9. The CEP has now extended both online registration and the deadline for submitting required documents through Oct. 31. The campaign period, which was scheduled to begin Oct. 5, has also been postponed, the electoral body noted. The CEP said it will announce the new start and end dates later as part of an updated calendar to be finalized in consultation with political organizations authorized to participate in the elections. Meanwhile, UN officials said that at least 5,700 people have been killed between January and early September, most of them linked to gang activity or operations by security forces. The UN officials said that it has also recorded just over 270 kidnappings and abductions and more than 1,000 incidents of rape or sexual assault on women in the troubled Caribbean nation.