Haitian rights advocates reject US push for elections this year

Civil society activists say holding vote amid deep political instability is not the way out of Haiti’s current crisis.

The United States’s top diplomat has urged Haitian political leaders to work towards holding elections later this year, a demand top civil society activists in Haiti and other experts have pushed back against as “a mistake” amid deep political instability. Speaking to reporters on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Haitian leaders “to bring the country together around a more inclusive, peaceful and secure vision and pave the road toward free and fair elections this year”. The US and the United Nations have said legislative and presidential elections planned for September in the Caribbean nation should go ahead despite last week’s assassination of President Jovenel Moise.