All Haitians know that the president’s term in office is five years and ends on Feb. 7, but the government and opposition cannot agree on whether Jovenel Moise’s time will end in 2022 or next Sunday.
These are the keys to understanding the controversy that the Caribbean country’s political instability has been threatening to deepen since 2018 and has been exacerbated in recent months by a wave of arbitrary kidnappings that has sparked major civil unrest. .
1. WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
Article 134 (2) of the Constitution, introduced in an amendment in 2011, is the one that sparked the controversy. The question that no one solves is whether or not it can be applied to the current situation.
It reads: “The President-elect shall take office on February 7 following the date of his election. In the event that the count cannot take place before February 7, the President-elect shall take office immediately upon the validation of the count and his mandate deemed to commence on February 7 of the election year. “
2. A CHAOTIC SELECTION PROCESS IN FOUR ACTS
First Act: The October 2015 elections are annulled after the first round, in which Moise was voted the most on allegations of fraud.
Act II: The then Senate President, Jocelerme Privert, will take charge of the state for 12 months on February 7, 2016, to avoid the power vacuum.
Third act: After four postponements, the elections will be repeated in November 2016. Moise wins comfortably in the first round with 55.67% of the vote.
Act 4: Moise takes over the chair on February 7, 2017.
3. WHO SAYS THAT THE TERM ENDS IN 2021?
Much of the opposition, from left-wing parties like Fanmi Lavalas, from former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to center-right figures like Senate President Joseph Lambert, are calling for Moise to step down this Sunday.
Trade unions, human rights organizations, the Bar Association, the Catholic Church, Jesuits and Evangelicals also defend this thesis.
Abroad, the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (Copppal), which brings together progressive parties, has also positioned itself for 2021.
4. WHO SAYS IT ENDS IN 2022?
Moise’s Tèt Kale party and 15 other center-right formations in government orbit, most of them without parliamentary representation.
The Organization of American States (OAS), the United States, and other countries support Moise’s calendar. The UN has also announced that it will provide technical support to the authorities responsible for organizing the 2021 elections.
5. WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?
The State University of Haiti Sonet Saint-Louis professor defends that the 2015 and 2016 elections are part of the same process, supporting the statement of the end of the mandate this Sunday.
In addition, he explains to Efe that the constitution establishes a relationship between the presidential mandate and the length of the term, which must end with a difference of 12 months.
Therefore, “since Jovenel announced the end of the 50th term a year ago”, he has set an expiration date on his own mandate.
Georges Michel, one of the authors of the 1987 constitution, He was in favor of the mandate ending in 2022, but tells Efe that he has changed his mind as a result of Moise’s “dictatorial behavior”; so now he pleads for him to leave power as soon as possible.
Moise has ruled by decree since January 2020, when parliament was dissolved without holding elections to renew it and, according to the expert, the president has abused this instrument.
This historian also accuses Moise of trying to “destroy the current constitution” and predicts that Haiti could plunge into violence if he doesn’t go.
“If Jovenel Moise doesn’t leave on February 7th, there could be confrontation and a lot of violence. There would be confrontation. They will try to expel Jovenel Moise by force and in return Jovenel may try to commit a massacre, which is not beneficial to him. If they took him out of the palace, they could kill him as they did with President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam ”, who was killed in a 1915 uprising.