By Gotson Pierre
Translation: Precision [[1]
Article published on April 19, 2024 and updated
Port-au-Prince, April 24, 2024 (AlterPresse) — There are nine, including seven decision-makers. The new members of the Presidential Transition Council must perform no less than 12 labors of Hercules.
Its installation has been announced for Thursday, April 25, 2024. It will take place in Villa d’Accueil, the former office of the prime ministers. The national palace, where the ceremony should take place, has always been the target of attacks by gangs of the “Viv ansanm” coalition in recent days.
His appointment, finally announced on April 16 by the outgoing government, did not appear to have had a significant effect on the spread of terror. Carrefour (southern periphery), a massacre on April 18 and endless looting in the depths of Delmas (northern periphery), among others.
A commission is working to plan the installation and transfer of powers. Including one member per sector represented on the Council, it deals with logistics, protocol, security and the transfer of files, AlterPresse has learned.
Once installed, the members of the Presidential Council must proceed to elect the president of the structure by a simple majority of the 7 voting members of the 9 that constitute it (2 observers).
The criteria to be a candidate for the presidency of the Council are those established by the Constitution. The interested party must undertake not to be a candidate in the next elections, which is valid for all members of the body: electors Smith Augustin, Louis Gérald Gilles, Fritz Alphonse Jean, Edgard Leblanc fils, Laurent St Cyr, Emmanuel Vertilaire, Leslie Voltaire, as well as the observers Régine Abraham and Frinel Joseph.
The elected official will preside over the Council during the 22 months of the transition, until a president emerged from the polls takes office in February 2026. This period may not be extended in any case, according to the agreement reached between the sectors that are part of the Council. Advice.
The latter are: the current Government Coalition Agreement of December 21, 2022, the Agreement of August 30, 2021 known as the Montana Agreement, the Collective of Political Parties of January 30, 2023, the Fanmi Lavalas political organization, the Pitit Desalin political party, the Democratic Resistance Platform/Committed to Development (Red/Ede) and the Historical Commitment political group, Haitian employers’ associations and business groups, the Civil Society Group and the Demonstration for a National Agreement (Ren )/Inter-Faith.
The other step to be taken will be the rapid election of a prime minister to head the next transitional government. The operation must be carried out following the same formula as for the Presidential Council. Each sector that makes up the organization would have to appoint a prime minister and the final election would be made by absolute majority.
Once the government is in place, the Council will make the main appointments at the level of various state institutions and public administration to address the challenges of the situation.
Hard hit
At all levels, the crisis affecting Haiti is very serious. The balance of almost three years of government (government?) left by the outgoing leaders, in power since the assassination of former president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, is catastrophic. The word “collapse” often appears to characterize this situation.
The gangs occupy most of Port-au-Prince, which has become a huge “open-air prison,” as one U.N. official describes it. The capital is blocked by gangs. We cannot leave or return while the airport remains closed and attacks on ships increase. A helicopter airlift alone involves a high cost.
The terrible gang offensive, which began on February 29, continues inexorably. For almost two months they only killed, wounded, raped, looted, burned… Despite some important blows, the police, increasingly weakened, only managed to repel certain attacks against strategic buildings such as the presidential palace or the Police Academy.
The violence has forced some 400,000 people to leave their homes and most of them are struggling to find help, the UN acknowledges. The Secretary General, António Guterres, recalls that more than half of the displaced are women and a third of them are children.
In Port-au-Prince and gang-infested regions, particularly Artibonite, schools have virtually closed, as have various branches of economic and social activities. Agricultural production is severely affected and hunger affects some five million Haitians (almost half of the population), according to UN figures. Many imported products, including medicines, are in short supply.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg, because over the past three years, this highly centralized country has been shaken to its foundations by an unprecedented crisis, the consequences of which from an economic and social point of view are profound. Among other things, the drain of brains and workers abroad has accelerated, with no prospect of return.
difficult path
The “Political Agreement for a peaceful and orderly transition”, signed on April 3, 2024 between the 9 sectors that make up the Presidential Council, determines the general lines of the management that will take place.
The objective of the transition is “the reconciliation of the State with the nation, the return to the constitutional order (and) the defense of Haiti’s interests in the new world order.”
The Presidential Council will have to return Haiti to the path of dignity, democratic legitimacy, stability and sovereignty and guarantee the proper functioning of state institutions.
The Government must begin the process of recovery of the public administration, guarantee the functioning of jurisdictional institutions, reactivate economic and social life, establish and maintain a climate of social peace conducive to the holding of the National Conference and the general elections.
The 5 main axes or projects of the transition will be: public and national security; economic recovery, infrastructure rehabilitation, food and health security; the national conference and the constitutional question; the rule of law and justice; elections for the renewal of political personnel.
Among the main points of the roadmap we highlight: the reform and strengthening of national security forces; the definition with international partners of the conditions and modalities for the deployment of a multinational security mission; the restoration and sanitation of state institutions; strengthen state institutions to combat corruption and impunity; the preparation of an economic plan to support humanitarian and economic recovery.
Structures will be established as part of the implementation of the roadmap, including a National Security Council (NSC) to find responses to the security crisis, a Steering Committee will be formed with the mission of leading a National Conference and an Electoral Council to the organization of elections at all levels.
A Truth, Justice and Reparation Commission will be formed to clarify blood crimes in order to give Justice and the Executive the necessary elements to act. A specialized national financial prosecutor’s office will deal with serious economic and financial late payments.
The Presidential Council must also create a body to monitor government action (Ocag). It will be made up of fifteen members, two of them appointed by the diaspora, two by organizations that defend the rights of women and youth, two by the Western department and one by each other department.
Long-awaited miracle
As we can assess, the stakes are enormous and the general conditions for implementing the next transition extremely difficult. Some of the more optimistic analysts would not expect half of the planned program to be completed unless a miracle occurred.
The obstacles of all kinds that will mark the course of the administration during the next 22 months cannot be minimized, although the impression of a timid rebirth of hope is felt, with the expression of ideals linked to the great democratic awakening of 1986. , until the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship.
There are reasons to plan the works of Hercules, which will require a lot of courage. It will also be necessary, and above all, to take into account qualities that the hero of Greco-Roman mythology did not have: intelligence, serenity and modesty. [gp apr 24/04/2024 15 :00]
