Above: MINUSTAH Chief Sandra Honore (UN Photo)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
The United Nations is expressing concern about the continued delay in making progress toward holding long-awaited legislative elections in Haiti.
In a statement issued by MINUSTAH Chief Sandra Honore, who is also the special representative of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the country, the UN said it noted “with concern that certain important decisions to advance toward the holding of the elections have yet to be made.”
The UN and Haiti’s other international partners have been urging the country to hold elections, which have been delayed by almost two and a half years.
“This situation has delayed the setting in motion of the necessary preparations for the organization of elections in 2014, which are critical for the consolidation of democracy in Haiti,” said Honore, who was joined on the statement by the Core Group, which includes the Ambassadors of Brazil, Spain, the United States of America, France and the European Union, along with the Charge d’Affaires of Canada and the Special Representative of the Organization of American States.
The statement comes a little over a month after the UN praised the “El Rancho Accord,” an agreement reached between the country’s branches of government that seemed to pave the way for holding the elections.
“In the spirit that inspired the inter-Haitian dialogue and the “El Rancho” Accord, we encourage the Haitian political class to work towards compliance with all constitutional deadlines and to peacefully resolve this pre-electoral crisis,” the UN said. “The inability to hold elections in 2014 could lead to the dissolution of Parliament in January 2015 which would engender yet another political crisis, with unpredictable consequences for the future of Haitian democracy.”