Haiti: UN Warns of “Institutional Vacuum” Without Elections Soon

Above: UN Special Representative Sandra Honore (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United Nations is continuing its call for Haiti to hold long-delayed elections before the end of the year.

Speaking to the Security Council this week, UN Special Representative and MINUSTAH Chief Sandra Honore said that, due to political deadlock, no agreement had been reached on the required framework to hold the elections.

If the polls are not carried out before the end of the year, it could result in “creating and institutional vacuum,” Honore.

That’s because, without elections, the current Parliament would be rendered dysfunctional on Jan. 12, she said.

Honore said she was calling for an immediate solution to be found “on the basis of the rule of law,” hailing what she saw as recent signs by political parties to renew an “inclusive dialogue.” She also pointed to Haiti President Michel Martelly’s intention to “engage in discussion with opposition groups and civil society.”

“While I welcome these various attempts at identifying a consensual solution, through dialogue, as soon as possible, I also wish to call on all actors concerned to ensure that the solution be on the basis of the Constitution and within a solid legal framework that allows for credible, inclusive, and transparent elections in support of a peaceful democratic transition in 2015,” she said.

The legislative and municipal elections have been delayed for nearly three years.

She also addressed the security environment in the Caribbean country, saying it had “remained relatively stable.”

“Structural and technical challenges such as a weak administrative and internal oversight capacity, limited regional coverage and scarce institutional capacity in specialized fields, including prison management remain, and require a redoubling of efforts by both the Haitian Government and its international partners,” she said.