Overview:
Haiti’s transitional authorities has tasked the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) with organizing a controversial constitutional referendum, a transfer seen as a precedence earlier than basic elections. However as insecurity intensifies and logistical gaps stay, the method is delayed and public belief erodes.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — With simply over seven months left earlier than its self-imposed deadline to steer the nation again onto the trail of democracy by elections, Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) appears to be prioritizing plans to carry a nationwide referendum on a brand new structure.
Though extremely controversial—with a majority of Haitians viewing this transfer as pointless—the CPT considers the constitutional referendum an important step earlier than the final elections can happen.
Nevertheless, amid rising gang violence and logistical challenges, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), tasked to ship this consequence, has proven little seen progress. No date has been set, and growing public skepticism looms over your entire course of.
Laurent Saint-Cyr is anticipated to imagine management of the CPT in August, succeeding Fritz Alphonse Jean because the council’s closing rotating president/coordinator. Below Saint-Cyr, the CPT is anticipated to meet three key objectives: restoring public safety, organizing a referendum and staging basic elections earlier than February 7, 2026.
On July 5, the CPT issued a decree formally charging the CEP with organizing the controversial referendum. That features overseeing logistics, registering voters, staffing polling stations and managing your entire electoral course of.
However critics say the timing is each unrealistic and harmful.
“The residing and safety situations of the inhabitants should take priority over organizing a constitutional vote,” mentioned Clarens Renois, chief of the Nationwide Union for Integrity and Reconciliation (UNIR) political celebration. He added that the CPT lacks credibility and public belief—two important elements for a official referendum.
“The CPT lacks the credibility wanted to ensure a clear election, and the general public’s lack of belief on this physique might weaken the referendum’s legitimacy.”
In Could, then-CPT president Leslie Voltaire had introduced plans to carry elections earlier than the tip of 2025—exactly by November. However since then, worsening insecurity and chronic gaps in electoral preparations have stalled momentum. The referendum date have to be printed in Le Moniteur, the federal government’s official gazette, however as of this week, no such announcement has been made.
A stalled roadmap
With no functioning parliament to information constitutional reform, the CPT’s decree delegates full authority to the CEP. Though the council was sworn in again in October 2024, its progress has been sporadic and poorly communicated. A governing board was shaped in April, and the July 5 decree supplies a transparent roadmap for referendum implementation—however lots of its provisions stay incomplete or unfulfilled.
“The residing and safety situations of the inhabitants should take priority over organizing a constitutional vote.”
Clarens Renois, chief of the UNIR political celebration
The next are some key duties that fall on the CEP, in response to the CPT’s referendum decree:
- Referendum Group: Planning, polling station setup and supervision are underway in accessible departments solely.
- Logistics & Administration: A proposed price range has been submitted however not but launched. Ballot employee recruitment is partially full and no coaching has been offered but.
- Voter Registration:
The nationwide referendum register has not but been created or printed. Native voter lists are nonetheless pending. - Marketing campaign Oversight:
No referendum marketing campaign or code of ethics has been launched. Accreditation of observers and accessibility plans for weak populations stay unaddressed. - Poll & Outcomes Administration:
Procedures for tabulating outcomes are outlined within the decree however can solely start as soon as voting begins. - Rules & Authorized Framework:
Guidelines on irregularities and offenses have been outlined, however public entry to CEP protocols is proscribed.
CEP’s progress to date: patchy and opaque
The Haitian Instances has contacted Patrick Saint-Hilaire and Jacques Desrosiers, respectively the CEP’s president and treasurer, for touch upon the state of the method. Though messages have been acquired, no response has been offered but. On the CEP’s headquarters in Pétion-Ville, workers redirected inquiries and mentioned, “Officers will contact you.”
Up to now, some restricted actions have taken place:
- June 23–24: The CEP met with the United Nations Improvement Programme (UNDP) to draft an electoral motion plan. Matters included diaspora voting, civic training, logistics and safety.
- April 15: The CEP activated an electoral safety process power with representatives from the Haitian Nationwide Police (PNH), Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd’H) and the Kenya-led Multinational Safety Assist Mission (MSS). Nevertheless, no public updates have adopted.
- March: Ultimate recruitment lists have been printed for regional electoral places of work, together with the departmental and communal bureaus (BEDs and BECs) in a part of the gang-infested West Division (West I and II). These staffers are but to be sworn in.
- December 2024: CEP officers performed evaluations in 5 departments to evaluate infrastructure, staffing and useful resource wants for electoral operations.
The CEP additionally submitted to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils Aimé 4 key referendum paperwork: a draft calendar, proposed decree, draft price range and technique for voter registration. Aside from the referendum decree, these paperwork haven’t been formally launched or made public.
Important actions nonetheless pending as political local weather undercuts legitimacy
A number of parts important to voter participation and legitimacy stay unfulfilled:
- No referendum register or voter checklist has been printed.
- The CEP has not issued a code of ethics or public marketing campaign pointers.
- There isn’t a readability on how elections can be held in gang-controlled zones.
- Accreditation of observers and inclusion measures for weak populations are absent.
Scheduled assembly held in Washington and Rome in December 2024 with worldwide businesses, together with the Venice Fee, the Group of American States (OAS) and america Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID), produced no identified outcomes. Discussions centered on financing and organizational help—however since USAID’s operations wound down after President Trump took workplace in January, follow-up has been nonexistent.
Whereas the CPT maintains that constitutional reform is crucial for stability, many Haitians stay skeptical {that a} truthful vote is feasible beneath the present local weather of violence, displacement and institutional distrust.
Contemplating all elements, the general outlook stays unsure.
As Haiti approaches the essential CPT’s February 7, 2025, date, insecurity and institutional fragility stay the largest obstacles to progress. With out transparency, coordination and neighborhood belief, specialists argue the CEP will battle to ship a reputable vote.
And with no clear plan for elections or a nationwide referendum, many Haitians worry the CPT’s mandate will expire earlier than any democratic switch of energy is achieved.