Haiti PM plans to hold elections next year

AP | Haiti’s prime minister said Tuesday that he plans to hold a referendum to modify the country’s constitution by February, and he hopes to organize presidential and legislative elections early next year.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Ariel Henry dismissed opponents who accuse him of wanting to stay in power and said that mistrust is one of the biggest challenges he faces.

The referendum is a priority, Henry said, because the current constitution is rejected by a majority of political figures and civil society leaders. He said an electoral council that will be responsible for setting dates has yet to be named after he recently dissolved the previous provisional council.

“The elections must be held as soon as possible,” he said as he lamented the lack of trust among Haitians. “People don’t believe what is being said.”

After being postponed several times this year, presidential and legislative elections were scheduled to be held Nov. 7, along with the constitutional referendum. But the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse at his private home on July 7 upended those plans.

One proposed constitutional change would bar a president from serving more than 2 terms, although it does not specify whether those would be consecutive, as stated in the current constitution. Other changes include compulsory military service for those age 18, the creation of a vice presidential position to replace that of prime minister and establishing a unicameral legislature to replace the current Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

Thousands protested in the streets when the referendum was first proposed, with many accusing Moïse of a power grab.

Henry still faces opposition to the referendum, as well as criticism from those who do not consider him a legitimate leader because he was first recognized as prime minister by the Core Group, composed of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the U.S., France, the European Union and representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

“He’s a puppet,” said Monique Clesca, a Haitian writer, activist and former U.N. official. “Bottom line, he has no legitimacy or credibility.”

Clesca and several leaders of Haiti’s civil society are calling for a 2-year transitional government with a president and prime minister chosen by political parties and civil society to stabilize the country before holding elections.

“We have wanted a Haitian solution,” she said. “It is time that the international community says to us, ‘We are listening,’ rather than push down our throat somebody that they put there.”

Henry said he has always been a legitimate prime minister despite not being elected, noting that Moïse chose him shortly before being killed. He views his position as a mission to oversee a renaissance of Haitian society.

In other comments, Henry criticized how the U.S. government recently treated Haitian migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, where it expelled more than 2,300. He said that action was not “suitable.”

“We don’t understand the way that our compatriots were treated,” he said.