PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC—Haiti has named the members of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), paving the way for the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to continue efforts to hold fresh elections to end the political and socio-economic crisis.
In a decree published in the official gazette “Le Moniteur” late Tuesday, the members named are former diplomat Smith Augustin, ex-senator Louis Gerald Gilles, former central bank governor Fritz Alphonse Jean, ex-Senate president Edgard Leblanc Fils, entrepreneur Laurent Saint-Cyr, lawyer Emmanuel Vertilaire and Leslie Voltaire, a retired minister and diplomat.
Evangelical pastor Frinel Joseph and former World Bank official Regine Abraham have been appointed non-voting observer members.
The publication of the decree came less than 24 hours after the government said no decree regarding the appointment of members of the CPT had been published.
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.
Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry, who was sworn in with the backing of the international community 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, 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.
Earlier this week, the members of the CPT had called for it to be installed “as soon as possible” while accusing the Henry government of seeking to introduce “major modifications” that could further stall the process of bringing about peace and security in the country.
The political, economic, religious, and civil society organizations also want 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”.
Last weekend, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the 15-member CARICOM grouping welcomed the establishment of the CPT.
For his part, Guterres urged all Haitian stakeholders to continue making progress in implementing transitional governance arrangements, including the timely appointment of an interim Prime Minister and government and the nomination of the members of the Provisional Electoral Council.
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