Haiti: Caricom Revives Debate on Post-CPT Era

With less than four months remaining in the mandate of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT), the Caricom Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) is attempting to bring Haitian stakeholders back to the table. The regional organization, which played a decisive role in establishing the Council in 2024, this week sent correspondence to the signatories of the April 3, 2024 agreement to gather their positions on the future of the CPT, whose mandate ends on February 6. A Diplomatic Revival Amid Uncertainty For several months, the GEP has been intensifying efforts to encourage Haitian political actors to agree on the continuation of the transition process. Already in December 2024, then during a virtual meeting on July 1, 2025, Caricom emissaries had insisted on the need for consensus before the CPT's mandate expires. Despite these efforts, the signatories of the April 3 agreement have never managed to meet to evaluate the Council's functioning or discuss its succession. Today, as the political calendar approaches February 7, 2026, the question remains: how will the country be governed after this date? Correspondence to Spark Dialogue In a note sent to representatives of the sectors involved in the establishment of the CPT, the Caricom Group of Eminent Persons emphasizes the urgency of the situation and launches consultations on the post-CPT era. According to several sources, Ambassador Colin Granderson reportedly dispatched the note on behalf of the Caricom Group of Eminent Persons. The CPT Attempts Its Own Mediation While Caricom is active behind the scenes, the Transitional Presidential Council has itself undertaken a series of meetings with various political and social actors. Discussions have already taken place by some council-presidents with party leaders such as EDE, INITE, the December 21 grouping, INIFÒS, and the SDP. The same scenario occurred with civil society organizations such as the Protestant Federation of Haiti and the Konvansyon Nasyonal Vodouyizan Ayisyen (KNVA). These efforts aim, they say, to « foster national consensus on holding credible elections and prevent a new institutional crisis after February 7 ». A Persistent Political Stalemate Despite these attempts at dialogue, the climate remains tense. Several signatories of the April 3 agreement and numerous political organizations are demanding the outright departure of the CPT at the end of its mandate. However, no clear agreement is emerging on the upcoming transition or on the profile of the authority that would take over. Thus, as February 7 approaches, Haiti once again seems suspended between two uncertainties: that of the continuity of a Council whose legitimacy is eroding, and that of a political vacuum feared by the international community. The Caricom Group of Eminent Persons still hopes that political reason will prevail over confrontation. But in Port-au-Prince, sectoral divisions and the absence of consensual leadership make any resolution to the crisis more complex than ever.