Thousands of Haitians took to the streets of Port-au-Prince this Sunday in a massive rally to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, a week after unleashing a deep institutional crisis pitting the government against the opposition and the judges.
Different groups of protesters, from different parts of the Haitian capital, gathered in the Carrefour Aéroport, a place that has become one of the main centers of anti-government mobilization in recent years.
At the spot, the protesters chanted slogans against Moise and began the march between burning tires, while police arranged armored vehicles along various points along the route.
The march is scheduled to head towards the offices of the United Nations, where opponents intend to deliver a document asking the international community to withdraw its support for Moise.
Exactly a week ago, February 7, is the date on which the opposition believes Moise’s term in office has ended, but the president confirms that he has another year in office.
That Sunday, Moise denounced that the opposition was planning a coup and announced that authorities had made about 20 arrests, including a judge from the Supreme Court of Cassation, the country’s highest judicial body.
On Monday, the opposition appointed another magistrate of the Supreme Court, Joseph Mécène Jean Louis, as “interim president,” who accepted the assignment in a recorded video released the same day.
Tensions between the government and the opposition have plunged Haiti into a serious institutional crisis between the executive and judiciary.
Moise has retired three judges accused of participating in the alleged coup d’état and appointed three deputies, in a decision apparently contrary to the constitution and criticized by the United States and the Organization of American States (OAS).
The president has been ruling by decree for a year, as he considered Parliament ‘dissolved’ in January 2020, as the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2019 could not be held, which were postponed due to the ongoing protests against the government calling it land paralyzed. in that time.
Opponents call Moise a “dictator,” but the president assures him that he will leave power on February 7, 2022 and hand him over to the winner of the elections to be declared next September.
Since last Sunday, there have been daily protests in Port-au-Prince, albeit with a much smaller influx of protesters than this Sunday.