BY JANIECE CAMPBELL
Increasing political tensions are getting progressively worse in Haiti amid mass protests against what many are calling undemocratic and unconstitutional.
The opposition has demanded that the widely disgraced President Jovenel Moïse should leave power immediately, ultimately accusing him of acting like an authoritarian leader and violating the constitution. According to them, the president’s five-year term should have ended on February 7th, 2021. But the president refuses to vacate his office, arguing that an interim government occupied the first year of his term. He has since pledged to the public, stating that he is not a dictator and that he plans to officially leave office next year.
The United States have backed his claim thus far, and do not expect him to step down until February 2022, once presidential elections are held in Haiti later this year. In a series of fact-check statements posted to Twitter, the embassy of Haiti in the United States affirmed that the president was officially inaugurated in February 2017, therefore he should fulfill his duties until 2022.
Rock-hurling protestors have taken to the streets of the nation’s capital, Port-Au-Prince, clashing with Haitian police who have in turn began to fire teargas and shots into the air as an attempt to disperse the mass demonstrations and members of the press. After countless years of enduring hunger, poverty and daily power cuts, Haitian citizens say their country is in the worst state they have ever seen, with the government unable to provide the most basic services.
“We are back to dictatorship! Down with Moise!” the protesters could be heard shouting in the streets, as well as “Down with Sison,” a reference to the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Michele Jeanne Sison.
A group of journalists have complained to security officials after two journalists received minor injuries by police following the reporting of the protests. Eyewitnesses reported that police dropped a tear gas canister into a media pickup truck, which many are viewing as deliberate as the vehicle was visibly labeled.
The heavy-handed policing doesn’t just end there.
Haitian authorities have since arrested over thirty people, claiming that they had been involved in a plot to overthrow and kill the president. Those detained included a Supreme Court judge and a senior police official.
Following the arrests, the government issued an executive decree immediately retiring the arrested judge and two other Supreme Court justices. It’s interesting to note that these three had all been approached by the opposition as possible interim leaders to replace Moïse and head a transitional government. This is not the first time that the president has undemocratically restricted lawmakers. In the last year, he has suspended two-thirds of the Senate, the entire lower Chamber of Deputies and every mayor throughout the country. Haiti now has only eleven elected officials in office to represent its 11 million people, with the president refusing to hold any elections in the last four years.
A collection of the country’s Roman Catholic bishops have even stated that Haiti is “on the verge of explosion.” But where does all this supressed anger towards the ruling government stem from?
Haiti has been under a dreadful state for quite some time. Under President Moïse’s rule, the cost of living has risen, poverty has gotten worse and unemployment is practically the norm. In fact, 60% of the nation is poverty-stricken, which gives the people plenty of fuel to protest the lack of help and opportunities being presented to them. The president’s irresponsibility to his citizens has caused great endangerment and security issues as well. Highly organized gangs aiming to kidnap and/or kill are ultimately a way of life in the country. The streets that were once filled music and vendors are now eerily silent, with many fearing to leave their homes or send their children school – acts that can draw the attention of gangs out to kidnap anyone with any amount of money. The government denies providing support to any gangs, but it doesn’t seem that they’re doing much to prevent them.
This tumultuous crisis in Haiti has been brewing for several months, and if the government refuses to reason with its people, it doesn’t look like it will cool down anytime soon. It appears that President Moïse is here to stay, and many citizens are already counting down the final 365 days of his regime.
