HAITI-Government says no official publication as yet of CPT members.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Haitian government says no decree regarding the appointment of members of the Transitional President Council (CPT) has been published in the official newspaper “Le Moniteur.”

In a statement denying the publication, the Ministry of Communication said that contrary to the rumors circulating on social media that a “supposedly authentic” decree had been published, it wanted to inform the population in general and the Haitian press in particular” that the official newspaper “Le Moniteur” has not published any decree relating to the appointment of members of the CPT.

The statement said,” The Government is working to make these appointments as quickly as possible and in the best possible conditions.”

Media reports here said Sandy Alexis, Justice of the Peace of Pétion-Ville, had sought to meet with the members of the media in a bid to verify the authenticity of the document being circulated and naming the members of the Council.

But the reports said the media had rebuffed him.

Earlier, the CPT members called for the Council to be installed “as soon as possible” while accusing the Ariel Henry government of seeking to introduce “major modifications” that could further stall the process of bringing about peace and security in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

The political, economic, religious, and civil society organizations said they also wanted the Council installed in “the form and content defined in the Political Agreement for a Peaceful and Orderly Transition of April 3, 2024.”

They said they are “deeply shocked” upon learning of the decree published last Friday by the Henry government and “denounce the introduction of major modifications which distort the consensual project of a two-headed executive carried by the Presidential Transitional Council, consensus patiently and laboriously built between Stakeholders from March 11, 2024”.

Prime Minister Henry, who was sworn in with the international community’s backing shortly after President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in July 2021, has already indicated that he will step down once the CPT is officially installed. A new prime minister was sworn in ahead of the fresh elections.

Henry is stranded in Puerto Rico, having been unable to return home from Kenya, where he witnessed the signing of an agreement allowing the African country to lead a United Nations Security Council-sanctioned Multinational Security Mission (MSS) to restore peace and security in Haiti.

The Council will consist of seven voting members selected from Haiti’s political spectrum and two non-voting observers.

Last weekend, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the 15-member CARICOM group welcomed the establishment of the CPT.