Urgent need for a diplomatic solution to Haitian crisis
Unfortunately, Haiti is being dragged through another round of political strife.
To say that we grieve for our sister Caribbean country would be an understatement, because we have, over the past two decades, painfully observed the intermittent instability inflicted on Haiti and have used this space to appeal to the leaders there, as well as in Caricom and the wider international community, to help resolve differences in a peaceful manner.
The latest conflict, as this newspaper reported, intensified on Monday when Opposition politicians named their own leader of the country in an effort to drive out President Jovenel Moise, whose term, they insist, has expired.
On Sunday, Government officials alleged they had foiled an attempt to murder President Moise and overthrow the Government in an attempted coup.
Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said that Supreme Court judge Hiviquel Dabrezil and inspector general for the national police force Marie Louise Gauthier were among 23 people arrested.
The prime minister described the coup plot as “Operation Catastrophe”, and said the people detained had contacted the official in charge of security for the national palace who was to arrest the president and facilitate the swearing-in of a new provisional president who would oversee the transition.
On Monday, French news service Agence France Presse reported that it had received a video statement in which Judge Joseph Mecene Jean-louis said he “accepted the choice of the Opposition and civil society to serve [his] country as interim president for the transition”.
The problem with this is that both President Moise and the Opposition are batting on a sticky wicket. In the case of Mr Moise, he is clinging to power based on a disputed election in 2016, while the Opposition is making an undemocratic grab for control of the Government.
Mr Moise, we are told, has been governing without any checks on his power for the past year, and has said his presidency does not expire until February 7, 2022. However, the Opposition has rejected that and has argued that his term in office actually ended February 7, 2021.
This conundrum is compounded by the fact that the election of deputies, senators, mayors, and local officials, which should have been held in 2018, was delayed, triggering the vacuum in which Mr Moise says he is entitled to remain in office for another year.
Add to that the fact that the Constitutional Council, which should have decided on the length of the presidential term, only exists on paper, and as such is unable to rule on this matter.
Additionally, we are told, the Senate cannot establish itself as a high court, as allowed by law, because only a third of senators remain in office due to the lack of elections under President Moise’s Government.
So, basically, the country does not have the institutions in place that could resolve this crisis.
Given that reality, the Caribbean Community and, if necessary, the United Nations, should urgently seek a diplomatic solution to this problem before it escalates.
The people of Haiti, who have been through too much difficulty for too long, deserve to be spared further pain and heartache.
Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer.