A new transitional government council was established in Haiti on Friday to try to bring political stability to a country ravaged by escalating gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The creation of the council, announced in an official state bulletin, comes after gangs controlling much of the capital prevented the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, from returning to the country after an overseas trip and ultimately pushed him to announce plans. dismissal.
The Presidential Transitional Council is tasked with restoring law and order by appointing an acting prime minister to lead a new government and preparing the way for the election of a new president.
A coalition of armed gangs has controlled most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, since launching an offensive in late February, destroying police stations and government buildings, looting banks and hospitals and killing and kidnapping hundreds of people.
The creation of the council was accelerated in Jamaica last month by a regional Caribbean community bloc, CARICOM, along with the United States, France and Canada, after it became clear that Mr Henry would no longer be able to govern Haiti.
But the selection of the body’s members was postponed after several names were withdrawn due to security concerns or because ethical issues became a concern.
Mr. Henry left Haiti for Kenya in early March to finalize a deal for a 2,500-member multinational force, led by the East African nation, to deploy and combat the gangs.
The council includes members of Haiti’s major political parties and coalitions, as well as representatives of the private sector, civil society, the Haitian diaspora and religious leaders. The council’s mandate says a new president is expected to take office in February 2026, but does not specify when elections will be held.
As a condition of joining the organization, all members agreed to support the deployment of the Kenya-led mission. Anyone who was charged, faced United Nations sanctions or planned to run for office in the next election was excluded from the council.
One gang leader, Jimmy Chérizier, known as Barbecue, had threatened to attack anyone who joined the new government, describing the transition as an illegitimate concoction of Haiti’s corrupt political system.
“Cut off their heads and burn down their houses,” he told his gang members, using a 19th-century war cry for Haiti’s independence.
While the installation of the council is widely seen as a positive step, many challenges remain, experts say.
“Will it have the capacity to silence the weapons of the armed men?” asked Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born political scientist at the University of Virginia. “How can it be installed safely, and how can it come to govern in an environment of widespread insecurity?”
Some Haitians have questioned the council’s constitutional legitimacy, and protesters tried to prevent the official announcement from being printed Thursday at the office of Le Moniteur, the official state bulletin.
The council must first be sworn in at the National Palace in central Port-au-Prince, the scene of some of the worst clashes between gang members and Haitian police.
The multinational security force tasked with tackling the gangs remains unfunded, despite a $300 million pledge by the Biden administration. So far, Congress has approved only $10 million of that commitment. After announcing the transition, President Biden moved quickly to announce the disbursement of $60 million in funding for the Multinational Force and for the Haitian Police, consisting of equipment and training.
“We are at a tipping point and we need a solution now,” U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat and the only Haitian American in Congress, said in the House of Representatives this week. “Haitians can no longer wait for the multinational security mission.”
The Biden administration has pushed hard for the transition council’s installation, which comes days after the arrival of a new U.S. ambassador, Dennis Hankins, a veteran diplomat who previously served in Haiti.
“I recognize that these are difficult times for the Haitian people,” he said in a statement. “Haitians deserve to be represented by elected officials who are accountable to the people.”
The United Nations human rights office said this month that more than 1,500 people have been killed in Haiti so far this year due to what it described as a “catastrophic situation” in the country.
Corruption, impunity and poor governance, along with rising gang violence, have brought the Caribbean country’s state institutions “to the brink of collapse”, the agency said.
Local humanitarian organizations have also reported shortages of food and fuel after the capital’s main port was closed. Several countries, including the United States, Canada and France, have evacuated hundreds of stranded citizens by emergency flights and helicopters.
The World Food Program said Haiti was facing its worst food insecurity on record after gangs took over farmlands and blocked roads in and out of the capital, extorting buses and trucks delivering goods.
On Thursday, the program, a U.N. agency, warned that supplies in Haiti could run out by the end of the month.
“We can only hope that the transition council is ready to deliver,” said Reginald Delva, a Haitian security adviser and former minister of the Haitian government. “The population cannot wait any longer.”
“We are facing the worst humanitarian and sanitary crisis,” he added. “A new cabinet is a priority to get the ball rolling. Political leaders must put aside their differences and make the people a priority.”