Opinion Analysis by Johnny Achkar, Contributor

March 7th, 2021

The 7th of February 2021 marked a turning point in the Haitian democracy's future. President Jovenel Moïse has been governing by decree for over a year with the terms of two-thirds of the Haitian Chamber of Deputies and Senate expiringby early 2020 and the parliament out of session since January 2020. Since dissolving the country's parliament, President Moïse has ruled by decree for over a year now.

In 2016, he was elected to a five-year term, but did not assume office until the year after. He states that only in 2017 did the clock on his tenure begin and that he is now eligible to serve until February 2022. Haiti's opposition has argued that the term of President Moïse expired on February 7 and called for him to step down. Haiti's judicial branch sided with the opposition, leading to the demands for the relinquishment of power by President Moïse, but the latter has other ambitions. 

In the coming months, Mr. Moïse is looking to extend his presidential authority by reforming the Constitution of the nation. The current constitution, he said, is a roadblock to governance because decisions, including the appointment of a prime minister, who is then charged with administering the programs, the president must obtain parliamentary approval. There would be a single-chamber assembly under the current revision, replacing the Senate, and a new parliament would be held every five years to accommodate the tenure of the President, whose powers would be enhanced. 

Although two successive presidential terms are not allowed by the current constitution, the draft is silent on it and only specifies that a president should not serve more than two terms, allowing Moïse, 52, to run again. Some consider the proposed reform, which has the support of the United Nations, as illegal and a power grab by Moïse because the current constitution bans referendums and allows all revisions to go through parliament.

More than 154 amendments, including executive orders, issued by Moïse in the last 13 months have been documented in the country's local daily newspaper, Le Nouvelliste. He removed all of the country's elected mayors and handpicked their replacements; appointed an electoral body unilaterally; and appointed a legislative committee to write the new constitution, without parliamentary agreement. 

In a defiant, hour-long speech on last Sunday, after an alleged coup, Mr. Moïse said, “I am not a dictator,” he also heaped scorn on his detractors by stating, “My term ends Feb. 7, 2022”. Nonetheless, Mr. Moïse did not hesitate to say, “After God, there is only me”. This declaration indicates that he is a dangerous dictator-in-waiting, following the Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier dictatorship model – the two-former father-son rulers of Haiti, who trapped Haitians in illiteracy and dire poverty, while also slaughtering opponents.

A nonviolent march to condemn the re-establishment of Haiti's dictatorship and demand the ouster of President Jovenel Moïse ended in violence last Sunday, killing at least one person, wounding multiple journalists, and shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds in the country's capital. Although some analysts see signs of protest exhaustion in a populace already affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the opposition has vowed more antigovernment protests. André Michel, 44, chief of the Political and Popular Market opposition alliance, promised that the opposition will hold further demonstrations and participate in civil disobedience if the president did not back down. “There is no debate,” he added. “His mandate is over.”

The opposition hopes to exploit the dissatisfaction of millions of unemployed Haitians to fuel protests that have often turned violent in the past and shut down large parts of the country. More than 60% of the country lives in poverty. President Moïse released illegal executive decrees criminalizing demonstrations against the government with 30- to 50-year prison terms. These mandates that were carried out with the aid of the National Intelligence Agency he founded, which reports to him arbitrarily.

As Haiti descended last autumn towards brutal anti-government street protests, fresh off a campaign visit to Little Haiti, then presidential candidate Joe Biden took to Twitter to slam Donald Trump. “The Trump Administration is abandoning the Haitian people while the country’s political crisis is paralyzing that nation,” Biden tweeted. “As president, I would press for dialogue to prevent further violence and instability”. Now, as Haiti's political turmoil deepens, the nation's crisis is rapidly becoming one of his administration's first foreign policy tests. The Biden administration is understandably focusedon its domestic problems, but it can no longer ignore the looming crisis in Haiti. 

The Biden administration has indicated that it respects the argument of Moïse that his term expires in 2022 and urged Haiti to hold new parliamentary elections and ensure a peaceful transition of power when the time in office of the president ends. Yet there have been few improvements to the policies of the Trump administration so far. The deportation of Haitians back to Port-au-Prince persists. Official comments are also failing to address larger human rights issues and growing fears of authoritarianism. There was no announcement of a high-level mission, which former diplomats say could help break the impasse if the right person is sent. 

A spokesperson for the State Department said  “the situation remains murky” and that officials would await the police investigation's results.

“The United States is following the situation in Haiti with concern and calls on all political actors to address their differences [through] peaceful means”. The spokesperson further added “The remarkable lack of popular response to calls for mass protests in recent weeks indicates that Haitian people are tired of endless lockdowns and squabbling over power.”. For some in Haiti and the U.S., that reaction was consistent with the U.S. policy's hands-off approach to Haiti under the Trump administration, which avoided addressing fundamental concerns.

A bipartisan group of House Foreign Affairs Committee representatives wrote to State Secretary Antony Blinken on Saturday urging him to “unambiguously reject” any effort by Moïse to stay in office.

A two-layered approach is required when seeking a solution to the political and humanitarian crises that Haiti is currently facing. The Biden administration must oppose the autocratic leadership of President Moïse head-on, substituting the uninformed interventionist policy pursued under the Trump administration with informed action led by domestic opposition leaders and the citizens of Haiti. In order to address the political crisis, civil society organizations must also be involved, mirroring the assistance provided to the country after natural disasters.