Haiti: The Council of Ministers will now be held at the National Palace, the Fils-Aimé government flexes its muscles

PORT-AU-PRINCE— The Haitian government is gradually reinstating its activities at the National Palace, in a move that is both symbolic and strategic, aiming to reassert the State's presence in the capital, long deserted under the threat of armed gangs. “Henceforth, all Council of Ministers meetings will be held at the Palace, at the Champ de Mars,” announced the Secretary of State for Communication, Bendgy Tilias, in an interview with Le Nouvelliste this Tuesday, October 14, 2025. According to him, this decision reflects the will of the government and the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) to sustainably reinvest in the city center and restore the State's sovereignty at the heart of the Haitian capital. The Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday, October 9, held at the National Palace for the first time since January 2024, marks a highly symbolic step in this strategy of institutional reconquest. “The holding of this Council at the National Palace constitutes a strong signal of the executive's determination to resolutely confront the scourge of insecurity and re-establish the legitimate authority of the State in the capital,” Tilias emphasized. A gradual return of public administration to the city center For the Secretary of State, this initiative is part of a broader dynamic to re-establish public administration in the city center, which has been paralyzed in recent years by violence and forced displacement. “Administrative buildings must be able to resume functioning in the city center,” he insisted, expressing his wish to see public services reinvest in places deserted for too long. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, present at the Council, welcomed this reinstallation of the government at the National Palace, calling it an act of resilience and national reconquest. “The Haitian State is recovering, step by step, with calm, courage, and determination. We are regaining control of our capital and restoring to our people the security and dignity they deserve,” he declared at the end of the meeting. In a video published by the Prime Minister's Office, filmed from inside a car circulating in the Champ de Mars area, the government asserts that “little by little, life is resuming in the country, particularly in the capital,” a sign of a timid but significant return of institutional activity in an area long controlled by gangs. A primarily political gesture Beyond its symbolic scope, the decision to hold Council of Ministers meetings at the National Palace is also part of a political strategy to consolidate state authority, a few months before the end of the transition. The government seeks to restore public confidence in institutions, particularly by reaffirming its commitment to free and credible elections. A return of symbolic power to a bruised capital The reinstallation of Council of Ministers meetings at the National Palace appears as an act of defiance in the face of persistent insecurity and the territorial fragmentation of Port-au-Prince. While more than 80% of the metropolitan area remains under the threat of armed groups, this initiative takes on a major political and psychological dimension: that of a State seeking to reassert itself precisely where its absence had symbolized, for years, the retreat of republican power. By reinvesting in the National Palace, the Fils-Aimé government sends a clear message: that of a gradual return of public authority and a will to restore confidence, an indispensable prerequisite for any lasting political and social reconstruction. Jean Mapou