This Monday, March 2, 2026, the Provisional Electoral Council launched electoral operations with the registration of political parties. Ten days to register, five months to organize a credible election. Mission impossible?
A high-tension calendar
While political parties have until March 12 to submit their registration files, the question on everyone's mind is simple: how to organize general elections on August 30 in a country where 90% of the capital is beyond state control?
The CEP has set its roadmap. The first round of legislative and presidential elections is scheduled for August 30. But this date, initially submitted to the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), remains conditional on prerequisites that no one is currently able to guarantee.
Security prerequisites: the Achilles' heel
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself warned: no credible elections without the restoration of security. A sentiment shared by Pierre Dieudonné Délice, a party leader, forced to flee his home in Arcahaie after a gang attack. How can one campaign when boats or helicopters must be used to bypass roads controlled by heavily armed men?
The Haitian National Police assures it is continuing its operations in Croix-des-Bouquets and elsewhere. But clashes persist, booby-trapped drones explode, and 1.4 million displaced persons wander the territory.
Mechanisms to activate urgently
To meet the August 30 deadline, several mechanisms must be urgently activated, according to analysts:
- Progressive securing of the territory
The State must demonstrate its ability to regain control of strategic road axes and areas currently under gang control, such as Martissant or Carrefour. The announced new gang repression force, intended to replace the Kenyan mission, must be deployed well before the election. Without freedom of movement, there can be no electoral campaign worthy of the name.
- Technical and logistical support from PAPEH
The United Nations Development Programme is already positioned through the Electoral Process Support Project (PAPEH). Its objective: to strengthen the capacities of the CEP, secure logistical operations, and promote the participation of women and youth. But this support will only be effective if the ground is physically accessible.
- Inclusive voter registration
With over a million displaced persons, how can the right to vote be guaranteed for all? Mobile registration centers, adapted communication, and enhanced security for polling stations in at-risk areas will be needed.
- Neutralization of electoral disputes
The political climate is deleterious. Several parties signatory to the National Pact are already crying foul over exclusion. The CEP will have to play an impartial arbitration role to prevent appeals from paralyzing the process.
- Adaptation to the climatic calendar
August is also the rainy season. Road infrastructures, already dilapidated, could become impassable. A variable too often neglected in electoral projections.
The CEP's dilemma: move forward or wait?
The minister in charge of electoral affairs, Joseph André Gracien Jean, asserts:
“We are not waiting for security to be restored everywhere to register parties. Step by step, we are moving forward.”
A comprehensible but risky position. Because organizing elections in lawless zones means taking the risk of an election that is neither credible nor inclusive.
Pierre Dieudonné Délice summarizes the general sentiment:
“If the situation remains as it is currently, it will be impossible to organize elections.”
The stakes go beyond technique
Beyond the mechanisms, it is political will that is being questioned. The transitional government, now led solely by Alix Didier Fils-Aimé since the end of the CPT's mandate on February 7, is accused by some of dragging its feet. “They like the transition because there is no control,” dares a political leader and member of KOMINOTE PWOGRESIS AYISYEN.
Yet, the international community, technical partners, and especially the Haitian people await a return to constitutional order. Elections are not an end in themselves, but the means to restore legitimacy to institutions and a voice to citizens.
More than just speeches
August 30, 2026, is on everyone's mind. But for this date not to become another mirage in the Haitian political desert, much more than speeches will be needed. Concrete security actions, flawless coordination between the CEP, the government, and international partners, and a fierce will to place the people's interest above political calculations will be required.
Party registration has begun. The machine is in motion. But it is moving across a minefield.
Jean Wesley Pierre / Le Relief
