After a year marked by extreme violence, Haiti sets its sights on the 2026 elections

Port-au-Prince.- After a year marked by the violence of armed gangs, which left thousands dead, Haiti is looking ahead to 2026, the year in which presidential, legislative, and municipal elections are expected to be held after almost five years without an elected government at the polls. The Presidential Transition Council (CPT), established in April 2024 and whose mandate expires next February, had planned to hold elections this 2025, but the deterioration of the crisis forced the postponement of these plans, so, according to the calendar approved by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) last November, these elections will take place on August 30, 2026. A second round should be held on December 6 of that same year, the day on which the new municipal authorities will also be elected, according to the electoral calendar.

Electoral Security and Financing

However, in a recent statement, the Provisional Electoral Council pointed out two prerequisites for the fulfillment of the schedule: an acceptable security climate and the availability of financial resources. He also recalled that a part of the country is under the control of armed gangs, including the capital, Port-au-Prince, and that in some cases "the State is totally absent" in a country where half the population - six million people, including 3.3 million children - needs humanitarian aid and 1.3 million have had to leave their homes, according to data from international organizations.

 Although the campaign has not officially started, political parties throughout Haiti are becoming active and organizing rallies, mobilizing their bases, relaunching their regional structures, and organizing training for their followers and supporters.

Haiti held its last elections between 2015 and 2016, during a transition period that ended with the election of Jovenel Moïse, who took office on February 7, 2017 and was assassinated on July 7, 2020, five months after the Superior Judicial Council ended his term on February 8 of that same year.

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The electoral agenda for next year was published on November 16th, so uncertainty reigns again in this impoverished country, as political actors and civil society continue to disagree on the future of the nation from February 7th, when the mandate of the Presidential Transition Council ends. Thus, the first month of 2026 is decisive from a political point of view for Haiti, mired in an unprecedented political, social, economic, humanitarian, and environmental crisis that pushes thousands of its citizens to flee in search of a better future to countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States, among others.

Ending insecurity, the great challenge

In his almost two years at the head of the country, the Presidential Transition Council has failed to stop the violence of criminal gangs. While attacks by armed groups have decreased in Port-au-Prince, the capital, they continue in new regions, perpetrating massacres, robberies, and gang rapes, leading thousands of people to flee their homes to live in inhumane conditions in displacement camps. All this despite the presence, first of the now-defunct Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), and now of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF). The GSF, approved on September 30 by the Security Council of United Nations for an initial mandate of 12 months, will have a maximum of 5,500 police or military personnel, assisted by 50 civilians. According to UN data, more than 16,000 people have died due to violence from armed gangs in Haiti since the beginning of 2022, and more than 4,000 of those homicides occurred in the first half of this year.