PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The Haitian based media organization, SOS Journalistes, is urging the authorities here to hold a constitutional referendum ahead of plans to hold elections in Haiti by November this year.
Haitian voting in elections in presidential elections on November 20, 2016 (CMC File Photo)It warns that any election held in the current climate is “doomed to failure” adding that a constitutional referendum is essential in the country where power is expected to be transferred in February 2026 to a judge of the Court of Cassation.
“Haitian officials and actors, from all political backgrounds, are striving to find a political compromise to launch the electoral process, but it is becoming increasingly clear that it is impossible for the authorities to organize such a vote in such a short period of time, just a few months,” SOS Journalistes said.
“For SOS Journalistes, the very first step, towards holding the constitutional referendum and crucial general elections, is to restore security, while knowing the situation will still be challenging a while longer,” it said, adding “all sectors of society, including journalists and the media, must be actively involved in order to build a critical mass of stakeholders in the discussions”
SOS Journalistes said it believes a new constitution should be adopted before the end of the year as a prerequisite to having credible elections by the end of 2026, in what is supposed to be the last political transition.
The media organization said that it is calling on the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC),mas well as Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé’s government, the Electoral Council, the National Dialogue Steering Committee “to focus their attention on the holding of the Constitutional Referendum that should take place no later than November or December 2025”.
It said in January 2026, the TPC would publish the new constitution in the official newspaper of the Republic “Le Moniteur”, and leave power as scheduled on February 7, 2026.
The SOS Journalistes said it also supports the formula with the president of the Haitian Supreme Court justice Jean Joseph Lebrun as president to lead Haiti through the new and next transition, which should end on February 7, 2027, with the inauguration of the new president, preceded by a functioning parliament and local elected collectivities’ representatives.
“SOS Journalistes believes that it is time for all Haitians, from different political and socioeconomic sectors, to come together and definitely fix our problems,” it added.
Haiti has been without an elected head of state after President Jovenel Moise was shot and killed at his private residence on July 7, 2021. His wife, was also injured during the attack and several Colombian nationals have been arrested in connection with the killing, but have not been officially charged as yet.
Since the death of Moise, criminal gangs have sought to overthrow the interim governments, and they have all but control the capital, forcing people to flee their homes.
The United Nations has said that the gangs are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Haiti.
