Haiti: Interim gov’t set to replace Martelly administration on Feb. 7

Haiti’s President Michel Martelly is determined to leave office on the first day of the carnival in 2 weeks even though he has no replacement, the prime minister said on Monday, making it likely an interim government will guide the country to elections.

Haiti was due to choose Martelly’s replacement last Sunday, but the two-man race was postponed indefinitely after opposition candidate Jude Célestin refused to participate over alleged fraud that sparked protests.

“It is clear that we won’t have elections before the departure of President Michel Martelly scheduled for February 7,” Prime Minister Evans Paul said.

Opposition parties want Martelly to leave on February 7, as mandated by the constitution, although some in his party would like him to remain in office to oversee the elections until his 5-year term ends in May.

“There are people who are for, and people who are against, but he is determined to leave,” said Paul, a former opposition member who joined Martelly’s government in 2014. Martelly, a former pop-star known as Sweet Micky, had a dream to sing on a carnival float on the day he leaves office, Paul told Venezuelan TV station Telesur.

The government and opposition leaders are discussing what kind of interim administration will govern until a new president is elected. One option is that the prime minister take over.

Some in the opposition have called for an un-elected transitional government to take Martelly’s place for a longer period.

Haiti, has had difficulties in building a stable democracy since the overthrow of the 1957-1986 dictatorship of the Duvalier family and ensuing coups and election fraud.

Protests erupted over the weekend, with protesters demanding quick elections.

Out going president Martelly entered office in May 2011, after the constitution’s February deadline, because of a political logjam and delays due to the earthquake that devastated the country.