Haiti Electoral Council Chief Vows to Hold Elections Despite Setbacks
Voice of America
Haiti will hold elections this year despite setbacks, Provisional Electoral Council (KEP) President Guirlande Mesadieu told VOA Creole.
"We will hold elections. We will hold a referendum," Mesadieu said. She admitted that the current September 26 date may have to be pushed back. Despite some political groups' attempts to pressure the KEP to put election plans on hold after President Jovenel Moise's assassination in July, Mesadieu said the council is determined to respect the presidential decree, which called for a referendum and general elections this year. "We, as members of the electoral council, would be acting irresponsibly if we were to decide unilaterally to hold a referendum but not general elections, or general elections and not a referendum. So, everything in the (presidential) decree is what we are focused on," she told VOA.Soldiers patrol the road near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 13, 2024. Children look through a fence at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 13, 2024. A protester reacts while tires burn in the street during a demonstration following the resignation of Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 12, 2024. People walk along a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 13, 2024.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks to Harry Abramson during a visit to the Biden campaign office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 2024. Demonstrators in support of Palestinians gather near where U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 2024. U.S. President Joe Biden visits his Wisconsin election campaign office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 2024.
Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry speaks while addressing the nation, at an unidentified location on a date given as March 11, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. (Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti via X) Former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, and leader of an alliance of armed groups, walks past journalists, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 11, 2024.
Natalia Latif with a 'Vote Uncommitted' sign during an uncommitted vote election night gathering in Dearborn, Michigan, February 27, 2024. Voting in Detroit, Michigan, during the presidential primary election, February 27, 2024. Supporters of the uncommitted movement cheer during an election night gathering, Feb. 27, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. Eric Suter-Bull holds a Vote Uncommitted sign outside a voting location at Saline Intermediate School for the Michigan primary election in Dearborn, Feb. 27, 2024.
Supporters for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump show their support for him at a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, March 9, 2024. U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden at a campaign rally at Pullman Yards in Atlanta, Georgia, March 9, 2024. Photos taken in Columbia, South Carolina, show former U.S. President Donald Trump, left, on Feb. 24, 2024, and current U.S. President Joe Biden on Jan. 27, 2024.