Haiti Schedules First Elections in a Decade for December
Haiti's electoral council has scheduled the first elections in a decade for December, with a runoff in February. The new calendar sets a first round of presidential and legislative elections for 13 December, pending an 'acceptable security environment.'
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Haiti's electoral council has announced a new schedule for the country's first presidential elections in a decade, with a first round set for 13 December and a potential runoff in February. The plans were previously postponed due to security concerns.
Haiti is having its first elections in a decade. The country has been very violent, and many people are living in camps or with host families. The government is trying to hold elections, but it's hard because of the violence.
Analysis
A Decade of Delayed Elections
Haiti's electoral council has finally scheduled the first presidential elections in a decade, with a first round set for 13 December and a potential runoff in February. The new calendar is pending an 'acceptable security environment,' which has been a major concern for the country's stability and democracy.
The plans were previously postponed due to security concerns, and the country has not held elections since 2016. The assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 further delayed the process. Successive governments have been tasked with holding an election, but insecurity amid a conflict with powerful armed gangs made it impossible.
The electoral council has begun registering voters and training electoral security agents, and published a definitive list of over 300 political parties approved to compete in the coming electoral process. However, ongoing gang violence has made analysts sceptical that new election dates will remain in place.
The ripple effects of the conflict include chronic food shortages, extortion, ransom kidnappings, and forced displacements, piling on even more challenges to ensuring a free, fair vote. Some 12 percent of Haiti's population live in makeshift camps or with host families.
Violent armed gangs, largely grouped under a broad alliance known as Viv Ansanm, have taken control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince, whose metropolitan area is home to around a quarter of the population. Gangs have also expanded into central and rural Haiti.
Viv Ansanm has been designated a terrorist organisation by Washington and is accused of mass kidnappings, gang rapes, arson, indiscriminate killings, and gun, organ, and drug trafficking.
The President of the CEP, Jacques Desrosiers, told Reuters late last year that the council had evaluated hundreds of voting centres, but access later worsened as armed gangs expanded outside the capital.
A Kenya-led international force sent to back up Haiti's police failed to help stem the violence. The UN-authorised force has since been transformed into a Gang Suppression Force (GSF) with a greater mandate to confront the armed groups.
Additional reinforcements are expected 'in the coming weeks,' a GSF spokesperson told AFP earlier this month, with the goal of reaching 5,500 uniformed personnel and 50 civilian staff.
Kenya supports turning Haiti mission into formal UN peacekeeping operation
Need for aid
Meanwhile, most Haitians still need support for basic daily needs. The United Nations' 2026 humanitarian aid plan for Haiti, earmarked at $880 million, is less than one-quarter funded.
On a visit to the country in June, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried 'the indifference of a world that has looked away.' As gang violence expands, Haiti's humanitarian crisis worsens.
Nearly 1.5 million people are currently displaced in the country of about 11 million, and more than five million are facing severe food insecurity, according to UN figures.
'The humanitarian situation here is desperate, but there are faint glimmers of hope,' Guterres wrote during his visit.
A statement from the Eminent Persons Group of the Caribbean Community grouping of nations, known as CARICOM, urged nations contributing to the GSF 'to deploy their personnel as early as possible' to bolster support capacity 'well before the first round of the elections.'
The group also welcomed the electoral council's decree.
Key points
- Haiti's electoral council has scheduled the first presidential elections in a decade for December.
- The new calendar sets a first round of presidential and legislative elections for 13 December, pending an 'acceptable security environment.'
- The plans were previously postponed due to security concerns, and the country has not held elections since 2016.
- Ongoing gang violence has made analysts sceptical that new election dates will remain in place.
- The humanitarian crisis in Haiti is worsening, with nearly 1.5 million people displaced and over five million facing severe food insecurity.
If the elections are held successfully, it could bring stability and democracy to Haiti. The country has been plagued by violence and insecurity for years, and a peaceful election could be a step towards a better future.
However, the ongoing gang violence and insecurity make it challenging to ensure a free and fair vote. The humanitarian crisis in Haiti is worsening, with nearly 1.5 million people displaced and over five million facing severe food insecurity.