Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to hold general elections in Haiti no later than August 31, 2025, the Caribbean Community Caricom announced Wednesday as leaders concluded a summit in Guyana. The information was confirmed by the American newspaper Miami Herald.
Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said to achieve the goal, the 15-member regional bloc known as CARICOM, will lead an assessment team supported by the United Nations, the United States, Canada and the Organization of American States to assist in Haiti’s election planning. The committee must submit its report to the community by March 31, he said.
Mister Davis indicated that Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s electoral commitment is “an important step in the right direction” toward the restoration of constitutional government and authority in Haiti. The Caribbean Community, he said, also plans to invite key Haitians to participate in a meeting.
Phillippe Davis said CARICOM calls on all stakeholders in Haiti, including the current government, to “be able to sit down to make the necessary concessions to reach a resolution” on the political impasse.
Caricom members said they spent more than 25 hours over three days discussing the Haitian crisis, with international partners including the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, the Brazil and the UN, joining leaders of the 15-member organization Caricom.
“We had frank and in-depth discussions on the situation in Haiti,” said Philippe Davis. “We are deeply concerned by the continued deterioration of the security, humanitarian and political situation in Haiti and, more importantly, we are more concerned by the continued delay in resolving the political crisis which has blocked the possibility of free and fair in the country,” he added.
Following these meetings with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, Prime Minister Philippe Davis stated that “a number of major steps and concessions have been taken to move the political process forward.”
“We believe we have a viable solution,” he added, but it will require the participation of key Haitians, “the political leaders, the private sector, the religious sector.”
Until now, Haiti’s political and civil society leaders have been unable to reach a consensus on how the country should be governed. “This time we will be able to find a resolution. Of course, the resolution requires concessions from all sides,” the Bahamian leader said, adding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry is ready to make his own.
For months, the regional bloc has been trying to get Prime Minister Ariel Henry and political and civil society leaders to reach a power-sharing deal in the volatile Caribbean country. Earlier this month, thousands of Haitians across the country demanded the resignation of Head of Government Dr. Ariel Henry, reminding him that he had promised to hand over the country to elected officials on February 7, 2024. This promise, however, depended on elections being held to hand power over to a democratic government.
For his part, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who chaired the CARICOM meeting, said the Haiti issue was taking a long time. That includes at least 10 hours of informal discussions in addition to “more than 15 hours of work,” he said.
President Irfaan Ali said the bloc remains committed to helping Haiti overcome its political impasse and securing money from the international community to pay for the security support mission and meet the country’s humanitarian needs.
Like Prime Minister Philippe Davis, President Irfaan Ali called on Haitian civil society and political leaders to make the necessary concessions to address the country’s crisis. Not everyone “will get everything they want, but Haiti must get what it needs,” the Guyanese president said. “This is a difficult situation for Haiti, a complex situation for the region and the international community,” declared Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.
If all goes as planned, Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry will spend at least five years in power, which will be the country’s longest political transition in our democracy.
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