New postponement of elections in Haiti

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While the country is still in shock at the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, shot dead at his home on July 7 by an armed commando, the elections in Haiti scheduled for September were postponed Wednesday to November 7 for the first round and to the 23 January for the second round.

The first round of the presidential election in Haiti, initially scheduled for September, will take place on November 7, according to the schedule published Wednesday August 11 by the electoral administration. The provisional electoral council plans a “combined polling day” on November 7 with the holding of the first round of the presidential election, but also that of the legislative elections, which should have been organized in 2019.

The constitutional referendum, a project led by the Head of State before he was assassinated, will also be organized on the first Sunday in November. The text of this constitutional reform aimed at strengthening the executive is still being drafted. Two drafts already presented proposed to abolish the Senate and open the possibility of serving two consecutive presidential terms.

As soon as it was announced, this referendum project had raised criticism even in the presidential camp, because the procedure is accused of not respecting the provisions of the current Constitution. Written in 1987, after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, the text in force declares that “any popular consultation aimed at modifying the Constitution by referendum is formally prohibited”.

A lot of questions

According to the new electoral calendar published on Wednesday, the second round of the presidential and legislative elections will be organized on January 23, 2022 at the same time as the single round of municipal and local elections, also suffering from years of delay in their holding.

The publication of this fourth electoral calendar of the year comes as the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse continues to raise many questions in a country also plagued by the insecurity of armed gangs.

Examining magistrate Mathieu Chanlatte was appointed Monday to lead the judicial investigation. Forty-four individuals including 12 Haitian police officers, 18 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin have already been arrested in connection with this murder according to the police.

With AFP