Haiti’s power vacuum is about to get a whole lot bigger

After at least four years as a failed state, seismic changes are coming for Haiti. 

The United Nations Security Council last week began to debate a US-backed draft resolution that would transform the current security mission in Haiti. 

Under this model a UN Support Office would fund logistical costs with peacekeeping-assessed funds. Voluntary contributions would continue to fund troop salaries, raising concerns about underfunding. 

Unfortunately, one crucial element is missing from the conversation: Haitian leadership. 

Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council’s mandate expires in February 2026. With no concrete plans for holding elections, it’s clear that Haitians won’t elect their own leaders by that date. This puts us on the precipice of another historic power vacuum. 

Unless there’s a public process to extend, renew, or replace the troubled transitional council — a process that must start right now — we’re heading straight over that cliff. 

How did we get here? 

After the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, his newly nominated Prime Minister Ariel Henry took power. Never confirmed by the Senate, Henry promised to hold elections, and that promise helped keep him in power as the country slid further into chaos.

The arrival of Kenyan-led security forces produced few results. Last year, the gangs barred PM Henry from reentering Haiti after a diplomatic trip, forcing his resignation. 

Toussaint Louverture International Airport

In legal terms, the (never confirmed) prime minister signed an executive order (in absentia) to establish the Transitional Presidential Council. Those nominated to the council were selected through a process led by CARICOM. 

Since then, corruption scandals have brought the body to a halt. Haitian society continues to crumble under the weight of gang violence and grinding poverty while leaders bicker. 

With six months until the next change in government, the new mission to Haiti is going to play a critical role in facilitating that transition — for better or worse. 

All the way back in May, I begged the UN Security Council to get serious and actually help. It looks like that’s finally happening. 

The Organization of American States unveiled a “Roadmap for Stability and Peace in Haiti,”after public prodding from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The deployment of 4,000 additional US troops around Latin America makes it clear that the Trump Administration is ready to go on the offensive against the cartels. 

The Security Council discussions are also promising, though Chinese and Russians support (or abstention) isn’t guaranteed. 

So, what now? 

It’s easy to be optimistic. I certainly am. But none of these developments address the question of governance. 

This isn’t an academic question. 

Say the UN Support Office is established — let’s say it’s even operational — by February. Who will they coordinate with to complete their mission objectives? 

Which courts, which judges, which prisons, will oversee the prosecution and incarceration of thousands of gangsters? 

The draft resolution would authorize international forces to conduct operations without coordinating with national police forces. Are we creating the conditions for abuse and impunity? 

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Haitians of my generation have some experience with political upheaval. I watched the fall of the Duvaliers as a teenager. I watched the rise and fall of Aristide as a young man. 

Members of the Haitian National Police Force marching band

What’s true then is true now: As long as Haitians are asked to live under unelected leaders, as long as Haiti doesn’t have a real democracy where people choose their own government in transparent elections, there is no future. 

If the international community really wants to help solve the crisis in Haiti, the next government of Haiti must reflect the aspirations of its people. 

If CARICOM, the OAS, the UN, and the US State Department all want peace in Haiti, they can’t put forward another “transitional council” composed entirely of political insiders and business elites. 

And a new security force is not a governance plan. 

Now is the time for Haitian leaders — not just in politics, but in the arts, industries, and the diaspora — to speak up. We must demand fair, transparent, democratic elections in 2026, not at some unknown period in the future. 

There’s good reason to hope that the situation in Haiti could improve, but that’s only going to happen when regular Haitians have a voice in their government again. 

Kenscoff, Haiti