U.N. Security Council tells Haiti to end political gridlock, start planning elections

Showing little patience with the ongoing political gridlock in Haiti, the United Nations Security Council made it clear Friday that it wants elections in Haiti before the end of the year and called on the country’s political and civic leaders to find a way to agree on the way forward.

“Only dialogue can get Haiti out of the current political crisis,” France’s U.N. ambassador, Nathalie Broadhurst, said at the Security Council meeting. “I invite all political stakeholders to build a necessary consensus so that elections can be held by the end of the year.”

Friday’s meeting took place just days after France and other donors agreed to help Haiti rebuild its quake-ravaged southern peninsula, pledging $600 million in short and long-term aid, and as the political landscape remains highly polarized, with the July assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse still unsolved.

The government and its main opposition, known as the Montana group, have different visions for the country. Prime Minister Ariel Henry is pushing for the adoption of a new constitution and the staging of new general elections before the end of the year, while the Montana group along with a group of powerful politicians are seeking a two-year transition led by their own prime minister and a five-person presidential college.

The increased tensions have not helped the deepening crisis in Haiti, where there is no elected president, the parliament is nonfunctional, the judiciary is paralyzed and gangs continue to control parts of the country.

“There is a vacuum of power at all levels, with governance structures that are not in control of the situation, a paralyzed judicial system and law enforcement bodies that are not effective,” said Russia’s representative, Dmitry Polyanskiy, who presided over the meeting.

“We’ve seen the efforts of the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry to try and find a compromise between the various forces in society to stabilize the situation in the country, and to launch reforms,” he said. “Nonetheless, we think is too early to talk about progress here.”

Friday’s meeting took place against the backdrop of an ongoing assessment of the mandate of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH. The assessment was part of a compromise reached in October by the United States and Mexico with China, which was threatening a veto of the council’s resolution to extend the U.N. political office’s mandate.

China, which has no diplomatic relations with Haiti, has been questioning the importance of the long-term U.N. presence in Haiti, a point its representative reiterated Friday, saying that ”over the years, the U.N. system has provided Haiti with huge amounts of development assistance, but it has not had the desired effect.”

H.E. Mr. Dai Bing, China’s deputy permanent representative to the U.N., called for the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and Haiti’s regional neighbors to play a greater role in the country’s situation, and joined in the call for Haiti’s leaders to have a stronger sense of urgency.

“All parties in Haiti should start an inclusive dialogue as soon as possible, reach an agreement on political arrangements for the transitional period and come up with a realistic and feasible electoral plan and timetable,” he said.

In her opening remarks, Helen La Lime, the U.N.’s special representative in Haiti, told members that the situation in the country remains fraught and highly polarized, despite some signs of progress.

“Prime Minister Ariel Henry has continued to engage with actors from across the political spectrum to further enlarge consensus around a single, unified vision that would lead to the restoration of fully functional, democratically elected institutions,” La Lime said.

Though she did not provide details, La Lime hinted at problems, saying that “negotiations among proponents of competing transition governance models have now reached the stage where success will be determined by their collective willingness to compromise. The contours of a common vision shared by all will ultimately depend on Haitian stakeholders placing the national interest above their own aspirations and being flexible on the finer points of the process.”