Greene County Democrat

Tag: assassination of President Jovenel Moïse

  • Newswire : Haiti’s transitional government adopts key law to hold a general election for first time since 2016

    Haiti’s transitional presidential council has backed an electoral law in the latest step toward holding a general election for the first time in nearly a decade.
    The approval late Monday means that the government can finally publish an official and long-awaited electoral calendar, after fears that the council would try to push back the tentative dates to stay in power longer.
    Council President Laurent Saint-Cyr called the move a “major decision” for Haiti.
    “We must finally offer the Haitian people the opportunity to freely and responsibly choose those who will lead them,” he wrote on X. “By taking this decisive step, while remaining fully committed to restoring security, we reaffirm our dedication to putting Haiti back on the path to democratic legitimacy and stability.”
    The adoption of the electoral law came as some council members have pushed for the ouster of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, including Fritz Alphonse Jean, who was recently sanctioned by the U.S. government.
    Some believe that U.S. visa restrictions, like the one imposed on Jean, are being used as a threat to try and influence Haiti’s politics.
    Three of seven council members with voting powers weren’t present for Monday’s meeting, where the electoral law was approved, including Jean, according to Le Nouvelliste newspaper.
    Council member Frinel Joseph, who voted in favor of the law, said that it marked “a decisive turning point” in the transition of power and that it provided Haiti “with the necessary legal and political framework for holding elections.”
    Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council has said it plans to hold the first round of voting in August and the final round in December next year, although ongoing gang violence could push back those dates.
    Meanwhile, the transitional presidential council is supposed to step down by Feb. 7 to give way to democratic rule.
    Haiti last held a general election in 2016 and hasn’t had a president since Jovenel Moïse was killed at his private residence in July 2021.
    The transitional presidential council was appointed after the killing, and the prime ministers that have served since the killing have been nominated by the council.

     

  • Newswire : Kenya will send troops to fight violence in Haiti

    President William Ruto of Kenya

    Kenya’s President William Ruto says his peacekeeping police force is expected to arrive in Haiti in about three weeks to help quell growing gang violence.

    In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr. Ruto confirmed that a planning team was already in Haiti and had met local police to secure arrangements before the Kenyan troops were deployed.

    Mr. Ruto’s comments came as he concluded a three-day trip to Washington DC, the first official state visit of any African leader to the U.S. in over 15 years. During his visit, Ruto attended an official state dinner at the White House, the first for an African head of state in 15 years. House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked an address to Congress by Ruto because of scheduling problems.

    During his trip, the White House called for the swift deployment of the Kenyan-led multinational force after a US couple was named among three missionaries killed in Haiti on Friday.

    “I have a team already in Haiti as I speak to you,” Mr. Ruto told the BBC on Friday. 

    “That will give us a frame of what things look like on the ground, the capabilities that are available, the infrastructure that has been set up.” He added, “Once we have that assessment that we agreed with the Haitian police and the Haitian leadership, we are looking at the horizon of three weeks for us to be ready to deploy once everything on the ground is set.” 

    Last year, Kenya offered to lead a UN-backed multinational security force to restore order to the Caribbean island.

    Gangs have taken over much of Haiti, bringing violence and destruction to its besieged capital, Port-au-Prince, in the wake of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. The gangs have released inmates from prison.

    Mr. Ruto told the BBC that these types of events are “exactly” why his country was preparing to send in its police force. “We shouldn’t be losing people. We shouldn’t be losing missionaries,” he said.

    “We are doing this to stop more people from losing their lives to gangs.” The U.S. is also a part of the multi-national coalition working with Kenya.

    President Ruto also has appointed Maj Gen Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed as the first female commander of the Air Force. She is the first woman in Kenya’s history to head a branch of the military service.