Haiti finalized a new transitional governing council on Friday in an attempt to bring political stability to a country racked by escalating gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The commission was announced in an official communique after gangs brutally seized control of much of the capital, preventing Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning to the country after traveling overseas and eventually forcing him to declare himself decision. Resign.
The Presidential Transition Council is tasked with restoring law and order by appointing an acting prime minister to lead the new government and paving the way for the election of a new president.
Since launching its offensive in late February, an alliance of armed gangs has taken control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, destroying police stations and government offices, robbing banks and hospitals, and killing and kidnapping hundreds of people.
The commission was set up in Jamaica last month by regional grouping CARICOM, along with the United States, France and Canada, after it became clear Mr Henry could no longer govern Haiti.
But some names have been withdrawn and selection of members of the agency has been delayed because of concerns over safety concerns or ethical issues.
Mr Henry Departed Haiti in early March for Kenya to finalize the deal A 2,500-strong multinational force led by the East African country will be deployed to target the gangs.
The committee includes members of Haiti’s main political parties and coalitions as well as representatives from the private sector, civil society, the Haitian diaspora and religious leaders. The commission’s mandate says the new chair is expected to take office in February 2026, but does not specify when an election will be held.
As a condition of joining the body, all members agree to support the deployment of a Kenyan-led mission. Anyone who has been indicted, faces UN sanctions or intends to run in the next election is excluded from the council.
One gang leader, Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed “Barbecue”, has threatened to attack anyone who joins the new government and has described the transition as an illegitimate amalgam of Haiti’s corrupt political system.
“Cut their heads off and burn their houses,” he told his gang members, using a 19th-century war cry for Haitian independence.
While the creation of the commission is widely seen as a positive step, many challenges remain, experts say.
“Does it have the power to silence armed men’s gunfire?” asked Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born political scientist at the University of Virginia. “How does it install securely, and how does governance begin in an environment that is generally insecure?”
Some Haitians question the constitutional legitimacy of the commission, and protesters tried to block an official statement from the offices of the official national gazette, Monitor, on Thursday.
The commission must first be sworn in at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince, the scene of some of the fiercest clashes between gang members and Haitian police.
The multinational security force aimed at fighting criminal gangs remains short of funds despite a $300 million pledge from the Biden administration. So far, Congress has approved only $10 million of that commitment.
“We are at an inflection point and we need a solution now,” Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfelers-McCormick of Florida, the only Haitian American in Congress, said on the House floor this week. “Haitians cannot wait any longer for a multinational security mission.”
The Biden administration has pushed hard to establish a transition committee, days after new U.S. Ambassador Dennis Hankins, a veteran diplomat who served in Haiti, took office.
“I recognize that these are difficult times for the people of Haiti,” he said in a statement. “Haitians deserve to be represented by elected officials who are accountable to the people.”
The United Nations human rights office reported this month that more than 1,500 people have been killed in Haiti so far this year amid a “catastrophic situation” in the country.
The agency said corruption, impunity and poor governance, coupled with rising gang violence, had brought the Caribbean nation’s state institutions “nearly to collapse”.
Local humanitarian agencies also reported food and fuel shortages after the capital’s main port closed. Several countries, including the United States, Canada and France, have evacuated hundreds of stranded citizens via emergency flights and helicopters.
The World Food Program says Haiti is suffering its worst food insecurity on record after gangs seized farmland and blocked roads in and out of the capital, extorting buses and trucks carrying goods.
On Thursday, the program, a United Nations agency, warned that its stocks in Haiti could be depleted by the end of the month.
“We can only hope that the transitional council is ready to deliver on its promises,” said Reginald Delval, a Haitian security adviser and former Haitian government minister. “People cannot wait any longer.”
“We are facing the most serious humanitarian and health crisis,” he added. “The new cabinet’s top priority is getting things running smoothly. Political leaders need to put aside their differences and put people first.”
