HAITI POSTPONES PLANNED AUGUST ELECTIONS TO DECEMBER

The governing authorities in Haiti have rescheduled presidential elections planned for this month(August) to December this year due to the continuing security vacuum in the country driven by gang violence.

The elections were last held in Haiti 10 years ago. The country’s last president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in 2021, after delaying a vote. Attempts by successive governments to hold fresh elections since then have failed, as the local authorities, despite considerable international support, have so far been unable to shut down the gang violence that has gripped the country.

Violent gangs in Haiti are said to control parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and hold key areas of the country in a grip of terror in ongoing stand-offs with national and international forces.

Haiti is currently run by an unelected Acting Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who holds sole executive power. The office of the president has remained vacant since the assassination of President Moise. The transitional governing council was dissolved in February this year, leaving the administration backed by the international community to manage the state in a face-off with powerful armed gangs. The poverty-stricken, violence-wracked country is a member of the regional CARICOM(Caribbean Community) grouping.

Successive governments have attempted to hold elections since then but have been thwarted by the scale of insecurity amid the conflict with the powerful armed gangs and their control over some parts of the country.

Voter registration for the December polls has started, and plans call for a run-off in February 2027 despite the ongoing security concerns.

The gang violence is said to have already displaced over a million people, with thousands of lives lost in the ongoing conflict. More than 16,000 people are reported to have been killed in Haiti’s gang violence since 2022, according to a United Nations report warning that as many as 500,000 illegal firearms are circulating in the country—most in the hands of gangs that control nearly all of Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. Gangs are also said to control three of Haiti’s ten provinces, threatening to derail the planned December elections.

There are concerns that if the polls go ahead, turnout could be abysmally low as large parts of the electorate could be left out, with people choosing not to vote due to fear.

In a recent United Nations Security Council briefing on the situation in Haiti, it was stated that gang violence remains the country’s most severe threat, “exacting a heavy toll on a beleaguered population”.  Millions of Haitians remain displaced or food insecure, while women and children bear the brunt of the violence, it was stated.

The gang violence is said to have already displaced over a million people, with thousands of lives lost in the ongoing conflict. More than 16,000 people are reported to have been killed in Haiti’s gang violence since 2022, according to a United Nations report warning that as many as 500,000 illegal firearms are circulating in the country—most in the hands of gangs that control nearly all of Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. Gangs are also said to control three of Haiti’s ten provinces, threatening to derail the planned December elections.

There are concerns that if the polls go ahead, the turnout could be abysmally low as large segments of the electorate could be left out due to fear.

In a recent United Nations Security Council briefing on the situation in Haiti, it was stated that gang violence remains the country’s most severe threat, “exacting a heavy toll on a beleaguered population”.  Millions of Haitians remain displaced or food insecure, while women and children bear the brunt of the violence.