In the midst of the crisis, the elections postponed indefinitely in Haiti

The presidential and legislative elections and the constitutional referendum planned in Haiti between November and January have been postponed

, following the dismissal on Monday September 27 of the members of the electoral administration by the government, plunging the country even further into uncertainty.

Read alsoHaiti sinks into permanent chaos

As soon as they were appointed in 2020 by President Jovenel Moïse, shot dead at his home on July 7, 2021 by an armed commando, the nine members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) had been strongly criticized by the opposition and members of civil society. After having drawn up several electoral calendars during the year, the CEP had fixed the date of November 7 for the organization of the first round of the presidential and legislative elections as well as the holding of a constitutional referendum. The second rounds of the ballot were scheduled for January 23, 2022, together with the holding of municipal and local elections. By announcing Monday the dismissal of the members of the CEP by an order published in the official journal, Prime Minister Ariel Henry is preparing the appointment of a new council, withouta deadline is not announced for this implementation.

No more MPs since January 2020

The assassination of the head of state in his residence in July suddenly amplified the institutional crisis in which Haiti has been plunged for years.

Before his murder, Jovenel Moïse was highly contested, in particular for not having organized elections since taking power in February 2017. Without a ballot held in time, the Haitian Parliament has no longer had any deputies since January 2020 and only 10 of the 30 senators are still in office, their mandate ending in January 2023. The absence of any electoral agenda weakens the political class, fragmented and very divided at a time when the country is facing a humanitarian and security crisis of magnitude.

Read also In Haiti, the distress of a people in the throes of yet another tragedy

According to the international organization for migration, nearly 3,500 Haitians have been deported over the past ten days to their country of origin by the United States migration services. The unprecedented massive returns between the two countries come after tens of thousands of migrants, mostly Haitians, gathered under a bridge on the Mexico-Texas border. Impoverished after months of traveling across the American continent, these refugees have found, after several years of exile, a country plagued by gang insecurity. The armed gangs, which have controlled the poorest neighborhoods of the Haitian capital for years, have extended their power over a large part of Port-au-Prince where they have carried out nearly twenty villainous kidnappings in recent days.