UN SG meets Haiti transitional Presidential council

– urges progress to have elected Govt in place by February 2026

The regional and international effort to return Haiti to normalcy continues. Following the work done by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), led by President Dr. Irfaan Ali when he served as Chairman, Haiti was able to establish a Transitional Presidential Council. And United Nations (UN) Secretary General, António Guterres has urged the council to ensure elections are held.
According to a statement from the UN, Guterres met with Leslie Voltaire, a member of the Transitional Presidential Council of Haiti, during which he congratulated Haiti on establishing governance arrangements to oversee the political transition.
In the CARICOM-backed plan that created the Presidential Transitional Council, it had been envisioned that an elected President should be inaugurated by February 7, 2026. Further, it had been laid out that current members of the council could not serve as President.

“The Secretary-General and the Transitional Presidential Council member discussed the need to accelerate progress on both the security and the political tracks to ensure an elected government is in place by February 2026, as agreed by Haitian stakeholders.”
“They also agreed to work together to encourage greater international support for addressing gang violence and the humanitarian situation,” the readout of the meeting, released by the UN had further explained.
CARICOM and President Dr Irfaan Ali, have previously come in for praise from the international community, for how they have proactively taken on the Haitian political and security crisis, to find a solution.
Back in March 2024, Heads of State and officials from several countries, both in the Region and from around the world, had gathered in Kingston, Jamaica for discussions on finding a resolution in Haiti, which has been torn apart by spiralling gang violence.

In the press conference that followed these talks, several leaders and officials lauded President Ali for his role as Chairman of Caricom, in organizing the meeting. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in whose country the meeting was hosted, was one such leader.
Also appearing in person at the meeting was US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who had also thanked President Ali. Blinken represented the US in the talks and subsequently announced that financial assistance to the multinational force that would be deployed to Haiti has been increased to US$300 million.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had attended the meeting virtually, had also congratulated Caricom on meeting to discuss Haiti and coming up with a strategy to help the beleaguered country.
Coming out of these crucial talks among Caricom Heads in Jamaica on how to return Haiti to a state of normalcy, the regional bloc had announced that a Presidential Council would be established to guide Haiti towards elections and the restoration of order.
This announcement was made by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, when she addressed the media at the press conference following the talks. Mottley had said that 80 to 90 per cent of proposals put on the table were agreed to by the stakeholders.
These include an agreement for the establishment of the Presidential Council, which would help identify an interim Prime Minister and replace the then Prime Minister, Ariel Henry. Further, Mottley explained that the next interim Prime Minister would work with the Presidential Council to establish a government. Additionally, a provisional electoral council would be established as a critical institution.
In the wake of this agreement, Haiti formally announced the creation of the nine-member transitional presidential council, which will be tasked with choosing the country’s next prime minister and Cabinet, a long-awaited move considering the spate of violence in Haiti.
It was announced in the decree that the Council will exercise certain presidential powers until a new president-elect can be inaugurated no later than February 7, 2026. The council’s mandate will thus end on that date, with no provision for an extension. Garry Conille was selected as the interim prime minister on May 28, 2024, by the council.
Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Since then, the streets have been overrun by gangs, and there has been a continuous cycle of violence.
That violence flared even more when, in February, criminal gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince conducted coordinated attacks targeting Police Stations, prisons, critical infrastructure, and civilian sites in the city.
On March 2, armed gang members raided two penitentiaries, reportedly freeing some 3800 inmates, after which Haitian authorities announced a three-day State of Emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew.
CARICOM, under the leadership of then Chairman, President Ali, had played an integral part in coming up with a plan for a peacekeeping force, led by Kenya. So far, Kenyan, Jamaican and Belizean security forces are on the ground in Haiti, working to restore order.