Haiti Prime Minister resigns: With no elected government, where does the country go from here?
This article was originally featured in Foreign Policy, the magazine of global politics and ideas.
Haiti is facing its most severe crisis in decades. Violence has skyrocketed, presenting a “lethal threat” to the country’s national security and worsening the humanitarian situation on ground. According to the United Nations, approximately 1 million people are on the brink of famine, 350,000 of whom have been displaced. The country is in a power vacuum. There is not a single elected official in the country, all the way up to the president—a position that has been vacant since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
What remains of the state is near collapse, with gangs threatening the National Palace after having successfully released more than 4,700 prisoners. Guy Philippe, a former coup leader and ex–presidential candidate who was recently released from U.S. custody, is prepared to take charge with the support of Moïse Jean Charles, an opposition leader, and Jimmy Cherizier, the most prominent gang leader. The latter has warned of “a civil war that will lead to genocide” and has denied the return of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been stuck in Puerto Rico for more than a week.
Early on March 12, Henry agreed to resign from his post once a transitional presidential council is formed. The United States has supported this decision, and is now advocating for a new “political transition” in Haiti without the support of Henry, contradicting previous statements made by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti and the Organization of American States.
The proposal to establish a council of up to nine members (including two nonvoting observers) was put forward during a high-level meeting in Jamaica earlier this week, convened by the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Representatives from Canada, France, the U.N., and the United States—including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken—attended the meeting.
AdvertisementThe council would include representatives from political parties, civil society, and the private sector. However, the proposal remains contentious within certain political circles in Haiti, and it has already been opposed by Philippe’s party and Cherizier, the latter of whom has said that “Haitians should be the ones to decide the form of their government.”
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementFinding agreement and consensus on the path forward has proven elusive despite the urgency of righting this dismal situation. The U.N. and, more notably, the United States have reiterated that Haiti needs free, fair, and credible elections in order to emerge from its multifaceted crisis. However, holding credible elections under the current circumstances is far more complex than simply scheduling a vote.
It has become abundantly clear that previous Haitian elections have not resulted in a pathway to sustainable development and democratic governance. They are not, therefore, the panacea that the international community sees them as, nor a functional exit strategy.
AdvertisementFlawed or contested elections will only undermine the legitimacy of elected officials and further erode trust in democracy—and Haiti already scores among the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere in that category. Therefore, it is crucial that the next elections (which may take place within two years, according to proposals made by leading figures) are meticulously organized.
It may seem obvious, but in practice, the international community has tended to undervalue the technical and legal aspects of an election, preferring quick processes and political validation by international electoral missions that serve as a stamp of external legitimacy.
Asking political candidates to participate in an electoral race that they believe is flawed from the start is bound for failure. Regrettably, members of the international community have pushed for this to take place regardless, not only in Haiti but also in other conflict zones.
Advertisement AdvertisementYemen is a perfect illustration. The 2012 Yemeni presidential elections were openly noncompetitive, with only one candidate, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, running for office. This made it more a plebiscite than an actual election, with posters of Hadi above each ballot box. The country’s Supreme Electoral Commission reportedly inflated the voter turnout figures to give Hadi the appearance of popular support.
The United States largely applauded this election, calling it “the beginning of a promising new chapter.” Nonetheless, the Houthis and the Southern Movement called for an election boycott, and two years later, Yemen found itself in a new civil war.
AdvertisementAnother good example is Afghanistan. The parliamentary elections held in October 2018 were viewed by some members of the international community, such as the United States, as more of a technical test before prospective presidential elections than as a way to establish legislative power.
AdvertisementThe opposition parties demanded that the electoral commission create a biometric voter registry. However, due to time constraints, the biometric registration was done on election day, making it impossible to centralize the data and remove possible duplicates. A sticker affixed to each ballot with voter information also potentially violated voter secrecy and endangered the lives of voters. Nevertheless, the parliamentary elections carried on but failed due to massive fraud, and most members of the electoral and complaint commissions were sent to jail.
Advertisement AdvertisementYet the same issues that were observed during the parliamentary elections, such as instances of ballot stuffing, continued into the 2019 presidential election. Voting procedures were even changed over the course of election day, contradicting electoral law provisions. The unreliability of the voter registry and malfunctioning biometric voter verification machines remained a significant concern. As a result, the election authorities purged nearly 1 million votes due to irregularities and alleged fraud.
AdvertisementThis so-called democratic exercise ended with a new power-sharing agreement between incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah in May 2020, and subsequently, in the fall of Kabul in August 2021—an incident that came at enormous cost to both U.S. taxpayers and human lives. Despite the threat of the Taliban’s advance, authorities still planned, with U.N. assistance, to hold elections in Kabul just three months before the city fell—revealing the lack of understanding of the political and security situation at the time.
In the case of Haiti, the problems with the electoral system are not new and should not come as a surprise to international officials.
First, Haiti desperately needs a civil registry and an audit of the current ID and voter registries. Before any vote can be held, this audit needs to be settled transparently, with the participation of national and international observers. Haiti has not conducted a census in more than 20 years, much like in Afghanistan, which means that we can only estimate the voting-age population based on demographic projections provided by the country’s statistical institute.
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementThis issue became particularly contentious during the administration of Moïse, when the government began issuing new biometric ID cards and claimed that it had registered over 4.5 million people ahead of the 2021 constitutional referendum, a total many believed to have been highly inflated.
Next, the electoral process needs a permanent electoral council and an independent dispute mechanism. Since adopting the 1987 Haitian Constitution, which calls for forming a permanent electoral council, Haiti has instead experienced an extraordinary 19 provisional councils. This erodes institutional memory and subjects each new council to charges of politicization, thus undermining confidence in electoral processes and accelerating electoral fatigue.
Furthermore, this electoral council serves as both judge and jury for the voting process, organizing the election and then adjudicating any disputes that arise. If electoral disputes are to move from the streets to the courts where they belong, an impartial and independent appeals process is necessary.
AdvertisementThe most recent law regulating political parties, which authorizes creating a party with only 20 signatures, is another concern. There are reportedly more than 250 political parties registered in Haiti. If this law is not amended, it could destabilize the next election—as happened during the 2015 presidential election, when some 900,000 registered “representatives of political parties” might have taken over the voting process—leading to allegations of vote buying and multiple voting, which ultimately resulted in the vote being annulled.
Advertisement AdvertisementRelated From Slate
Joseph Blocher and Mitu Gulati
The U.S. Stole Billions From Haiti. It’s Time to Give It Back.
Read MorePopular in News & Politics
- The Lawyer Defending Idaho’s Abortion Ban Irritated the One Justice He Needed on His Side
- We’ve Been Entertaining an Illusion About the Supreme Court. It’s Finally Been Shattered.
- You Don’t Want to Know How It’s Going Between Trump’s Lawyers and the Judge Presiding Over His Criminal Case
- Prosecutors Are Finally Revealing Their Strategy Against Trump
Finally, it is essential to examine the country’s legal framework and consider constitutional reforms. Some existing constitutional provisions have been contentious and challenging to implement. For example, the requirement that one-third of the Senate be reelected every two years has seldom been fulfilled, resulting in dysfunction in the upper chamber of Parliament. The duration of the president’s and senators’ terms has also been interpreted differently, resulting in widespread protests and the alleged use of gangs to suppress them.
AdvertisementAhead of the vote, an electoral law that outlines the rules of the election process must be put in place. The law requires approval by the Haitian Parliament, which does not exist today. Given the extraconstitutional nature of the current situation, it is thus imperative that the electoral rules (which must now take the form of a decree) emerge from a broad political consensus to avoid a potentially damaging boycott.
It is easy to agree that Haiti needs elections. But a credible election starts well before the first vote is cast, and it must be fair and competitive enough to ensure greater legitimacy by increasing voter participation and widespread acceptance. As reflected by debates in the U.N. Security Council, the international community has too often seen elections in Haiti or other conflict zones as a simple box to check before proclaiming that democracy has been restored. We must avoid making the same mistake again.
Tweet Share Share Comment(责任编辑:产品中心)
-
Who is the Dark Wizard in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 2?
Just when The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerreveals the identity of one mysterious wizard, it ...[详细] -
本网讯 春节临近,为进一步加强烟花爆竹产品质量安全监管,切实守好市场安全底线,连日来,市市场监督管理局进一步加大春节期间烟花爆竹产品质量安全监管力度。“明”形势。加强对烟花爆竹批发商、零售商的政策宣传 ...[详细]
-
浜ら€氶摱琛岄潚宀涘競鍗椾簩鏀:鍋氭偍鐨勬渶浣宠储瀵岀鐞嗛摱琛宊涓浗灞变笢缃慱闈掑矝
銆€銆€鏃跺厜鑽忚嫆銆傛棤璁烘槸鍦ㄤ竴鎶婄畻鐩樹竴鏀瑪鐨勬椂浠o紝杩樻槸濡備粖绉戞妧鍏冪礌婊℃弧鐨勬櫤鑳介摱琛屾椂浠o紝浼樿川鐨勬湇鍔°€佽壇濂界殑鐢ㄦ埛浣撻獙鎰熸案杩滄槸閾惰涓氳拷姹傜殑鐩爣銆 ...[详细] -
目前,平安人寿青岛分公司客服节火热开展中,本年度客服节依托“千城万区”主题,聚焦全民阅读,关爱乡村少年精神世界。分公司青岛本部及各三级机构八地联动,深入社区开展“千 ...[详细]
-
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General ...[详细]
-
2018年8月23日下午,招商银行青岛分行在青岛海尔洲际酒店成功举办“跨境融合 互惠共赢—2018年银关保金融服务交流会”。本次交流会邀请了青岛海关、招商银行总行交 ...[详细]
-
在“三八”国际妇女节来临之际,为了丰富辖区妇女的业余生活,发扬“开拓进取、与时俱进、无私奉献”的精神,激发“巾帼建功立业”的热情,雨城区青江街道土桥社区组织16名巾帼志愿者开展了“魅力女性,美丽如花” ...[详细]
-
9月5日下午,招商银行、招商证券与晨鸣集团战略合作协议签约仪式在晨鸣集团总部举行。根据晨鸣集团生产经营和发展需要,招商银行在传统信贷业务和债券融资市场给予100亿元的金融支持, ...[详细]
-
'Please find her': Man dies amid 25
Song Gil-yong speaks during a public campaign dedicated to finding his missing daughter, Hye-hee, in ...[详细] -
“香”上热搜第一,高州香蕉究竟有啥魅力?_南方+_南方plus九月丰收,蕉香味浓。近日,茂名市庆祝2023年中国农民丰收节暨高州市“庆丰收 促和美”活动启动仪式开幕,#广东香蕉还得看高州#微博话题登顶 ...[详细]