Following the directives to form a seven-member transitional council to take the helm of affairs in the country, the sectors of society tasked to nominate a representative have mostly come up with the list which was transmitted to the CARICOM. This step was taken within the time limit prescribed by the regional body which has been acting as an intermediary between all factions vying for leadership and governance of the country. The names were not submitted together to the CARICOM but separately by each sector. The political parties and civil society organizations with voting rights include the Collectif 30 janvier 2023, Accord du 21 décembre 2022, Résistance démocratique/Engagés pour le développement (RED/EDE), Lavalas, Montana Accord, Pitit Dessalines and the private sector. But Jean-Charles Moïse, who heads the Pitit Dessalines party rejected the call to nominate a representative to the presidential council, stressing that he is keen on the three (3) names that he himself had designated to form a presidential council. The confirmed six members are Edgard Leblanc Fils, Louis Gérald Gilles, Leslie Voltaire, Marie Ghislaine Mompremier, Fritz Alphonse Jean, and Laurent St Cyr who is the choice of the private sector. According to former Senator Sorel Jacinthe, a signatory to the December 21 accord, groups that have nominated names to the Presidential Transitional Council do not yet have any information on how Caricom will proceed to make the Presidential Council functional, because the regional organization has not yet informed the Haitian authorities on what the next steps are going to be. But he anticipates that whatever happens next, the first point must be the publication of the decree with the names of the members of the Presidential Council and this must come from Haiti with the Council of Ministers headed by Michel Patrick Boisvert.
Meanwhile, the Episcopal Conference, La Conférence épiscopale d’Haïti (CEH), which brings together the bishops of the Catholic Church in Haiti, distances itself from the Presidential Transitional Council even though an observer status had been granted to the religious sector. In a press note, the CEH said it was taking this decision “to be able to maintain the moral distance which allows it to fulfill its prophetic mission.” Despite distancing itself and not nominating anyone to represent it on the transitional council, the CEH expresses its wish to see the current talks lead to a true inclusive and lasting patriotic understanding for the benefit of the Haitian people. The CEH also says it encourages the efforts of all sectors and all stakeholders with a view to finding an outcome to the current crisis and restoring peace and security for all, by providing the country with a form of inclusive transitional government. In a note made public, the conference launches an appeal to put an end to the escalation of violence facing the country. Stressing that “while waiting for the establishment of the institutional bodies which must complete the transition, we invite all Haitians without distinction not to fuel violence, because each destruction causes Haiti to regress or delay in its march towards the progress that we all desire.
The spate of violence continues unabated, made more acute with the institutional void created with the absence of the interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry who is currently stranded in Puerto Rico, unable to return home from his trip to Kenya. Late Monday afternoon, a group of armed gangs attacked the central bank, la Banque de République d’Haïti (BRH), located in downtown Port-au-Prince. Though no official statement has been made to the public, reports indicated that security forces were quickly dispatched to the bank and some of the perpetrators have been neutralized. One version listed the casualties at 4, stating that a group of bandits tried to enter the premises of the institution, located in downtown Port-au-Prince, very close to several neighborhoods serving as bases for gangs, and encountered resistance from the bank’s security guards, aided by the police, and four of them were killed.
On the same Monday, March 18, 2024, four (4) EDH electricity substations in Port-au-Prince, as well as the Varreux Power Plant were attacked and destroyed by armed gangs. The management of the electrical company, EDH, announced this news on their social media platform, adding that inverters, batteries, electrical installations, electrical cables, important documents as well as computer and office equipment were taken by these thugs. Since the launch of their offensive on the capital on Thursday February 29, 2024, the coalition gangs have continued to target the country’s infrastructure and strategic institutions, aside from the numerous suffering and pain caused the ordinary citizens. The national electric company calls on the authorities to take measures to secure its multiple sites across the country.
Previously, the gangs attacked the two largest prisons in the country and causing thousands of inmates to flee. Attacks were also recorded against the General Directorate of Police, the Police Academy, several police stations, sub-police stations and police stations. The Toussaint Louveture international airport and the Guy Malary terminal came under intense fire on several occasions, while numerous businesses, offices, hospitals, and educational establishments were vandalized.
Finally, former presidential spokesperson for the PHTK (parti haitien tèt kale) under Joseph Michel Martelly and the late Jovenel Moïse, Lucien Jura, was kidnapped late afternoon on Monday, in Vivy Mitchell, in Petionville. Heavily armed gangs broke through the back of his home to kidnap him. This information was confirmed through a tweet by Péguy Jean, former presenter of the program « Moment de Vérité » on Radio Signal FM. A source close to the family also confirmed that the kidnappers have already contacted the family. Since Wednesday March 13, 2024, armed gangs have carried out attacks against the neighborhoods of Belvil, Vivy Mitchell and Torcelle, disrupting commercial and public transport activities in Pétionville. Just this Monday, residents were alarmed when they realized hooded armed gangs attacking residents in Laboule, Boutilliers and Thomassin. Also, several lifeless bodies were discovered, this Monday, on Panamerican Avenue in Pétionville. These are symptoms of the persistent terror from armed gangs in the country.