Santo Domingo (EFE).- Haiti’s government on Tuesday approved a long-awaited electoral decree that will allow the country to hold general elections on Aug. 30, 2026, its first in nearly 10 years, as the nation grapples with a deep political and security crisis.
The decree, which will be published in the official journal Le Moniteur, formalises the electoral roadmap presented last month by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT).
“The absolute priority is the imminent organization of elections. All State resources will be mobilized to achieve this goal,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement announcing the measure. It added that the political process now underway is “irreversible.”
The first round of Haiti’s presidential and legislative elections is scheduled for Aug. 30, 2026. A second round is planned for Dec. 6, with new authorities expected to take office on Jan. 20, 2027, according to the CEP.
Government officials said Tuesday’s decision “constitutes a clear signal to the nation and to the international community,” demonstrating that the administration and the CPT are acting “with responsibility, determination and commitment to ensure a full return to democratic governance.”
Unanimous cabinet approval The electoral decree was reviewed “rigorously” and approved unanimously by the Council of Ministers on Monday, the government said.
The CPT, created last year to guide Haiti back to constitutional order, had initially envisioned elections in 2025 to elect a president, senators, deputies and local authorities.
Haiti officially entered its fourth year without elected leaders on Feb. 7, amid worsening insecurity, gang violence, humanitarian deterioration and widespread food insecurity.
The absence of elections in the past decade has left every elected office vacant, deepening the institutional vacuum and further weakening the State’s capacity to respond to compounding crises.
A decade without elections Haiti’s last electoral cycle took place between 2015 and 2016 during a previous transition, culminating in the election of Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated on Jul. 7, 2020.
His killing occurred five months after Haiti’s High Judicial Council declared that his mandate had ended, increasing political tensions and leaving the country without elected officials.
The new decree, authorities stressed, aims to reassure both national actors and foreign partners that the transition authorities are committed to restoring democratic institutions after years of governance paralysis. EFE
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