The politics of Haiti takes place in the framework of a unitary semi-presidential republic, where the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. The politics of Haiti are considered historically unstable due to various coups d'état, regime changes, military juntas and internal conflicts. After Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deposed, Haitian politics became relatively stable. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Haiti an "authoritarian regime" in 2022. According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Haiti is 2023 the 4th least electoral democratic country in Latin America.
The president of Haiti, officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti, is the head of state of Haiti. Executive power in Haiti is divided between the president and the government, which is headed by the prime minister of Haiti.[A133] The Transitional Presidential Council has been exercising the powers of the presidency since 25 April 2024. It has a mandate to act that concludes on 7 February 2026.
The Constitution of Haiti provides for the election of the President, Parliament, and members of local governing bodies. The 2015–16 Haitian parliamentary election was held. The February 2016 Haitian presidential election was held following annulment of the February 2016 Haitian presidential election.
The Provisional Electoral Council was the electoral commission of Haiti. The body had the sole agency responsible for presidential elections and parliamentary elections. CEP used to be Haiti's main and only legal election agency.
Patriotic Unity, is a political party in Haiti founded on 28 November 2009. Its dissolution had been claimed by former leading members on 30 April 2019 but was then disputed by the current leadership. Its founder and leader was René Préval, who served as President of Haiti from 2006 to 2011.
Jovenel Moïse was a Haitian politician and entrepreneur, who served as the 43rd president of Haiti from 2017 until his assassination in 2021. He assumed the presidency in February 2017 after winning the November 2016 election. During his term, Haiti experienced widespread protests and unrest. In the early morning of 7 July 2021, Moïse was assassinated, and his wife Martine was injured during an attack on their private residence in Pétion-Ville. Claude Joseph assumed the role of acting president in the aftermath of Moïse's assassination.
Presidential elections were held in Haiti on 20 November 2016 after having been postponed several times. The elections were overseen by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), and were held using the two-round system, with a second round scheduled for 29 January 2017 if no candidate received an absolute majority of the votes in the first round. However, on 27 November election officials announced that, according to preliminary results, Jovenel Moïse had won the election in the first round with more than 50% of the vote. Voter turnout, in the election held 6 weeks after Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, was reported to be 21%. Jovenel Moïse assumed office on 7 February 2017, and was assassinated on 7 July 2021.
Indirect presidential elections were held in Haiti on 13-14 February 2016 following the annulment of the results of the 2015 elections by the Provisional Electoral Council, and after Michel Martelly resigned the presidency and Prime Minister Evans Paul assumed office as acting president on 7 February 2016. The members of the National Assembly voted for the interim President on 13 February 2016 in the first round and on 14 February in the second round.
Protests began in cities throughout Haiti on 7 July 2018 in response to increased fuel prices. Over time, these protests evolved into demands for the resignation of Jovenel Moïse, the then-president of Haiti. Led by opposition politician Jean-Charles Moïse, protesters stated that their goals were to create a transitional government, provide social programs, and prosecute allegedly corrupt officials. From 2019 to 2021, there were massive protests calling for the Jovenel Moïse government to resign. Moïse had come in first in the 2016 presidential election, for which voter turnout was 21%. The 2015 elections had been annulled due to fraud. On 7 February 2021, supporters of the opposition allegedly attempted a coup d'état, leading to 23 arrests, as well as clashes between protestors and police.
A constitutional referendum was planned to be held in Haiti in 2023. It is the first referendum in the country since 1987, and was unilaterally proposed by the administration of Jovenel Moïse. Originally set to be held on 27 June 2021, the referendum was postponed to 26 September 2021, on the same day as the presidential and parliamentary elections. The referendum was again postponed to 7 November. Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry later postponed it first to February 2022 and then 2023.
Claude Joseph is a Haitian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship from 4 March 2020 to 24 November 2021, and served as acting prime minister of Haiti from 14 April 2021 to 20 July 2021.
Jovenel Moïse, the 43rd president of Haiti, was assassinated on 7 July 2021 at 1 am EDT (UTC−04:00) at his residence in Port-au-Prince. A group of 28 foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, are alleged to be responsible for the killing. First Lady Martine Moïse was also shot multiple times in the attack, and was airlifted to the United States for emergency treatment. Later in the day, USGPN killed three of the suspected assassins and arrested 20 more. A manhunt was launched for other gunmen as well as the masterminds of the attack. Haitian chief prosecutor Bedford Claude confirmed plans to question Moïse's top bodyguards; none of the president's security guards were killed or injured in the attack. US authorities have since arrested eleven suspects alleged to have conspired in the assassination. Martine Moïse and former prime minister Claude Joseph were formally charged on 19 February 2024 with conspiring in the assassination.
Ariel Henry is a Haitian neurosurgeon and politician who served as the acting prime minister after the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, until his formal resignation on 24 April 2024. During this period where the role of the head of state was vacant, the Council of Ministers he presided exercised executive power. He also served as the acting Minister of Interior and Territorial Communities.
Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbecue, is a Haitian gang leader, former police officer, and warlord who is the head of the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies, abbreviated as "G9" or "FRG9", a federation of over a dozen Haitian gangs based in Port-au-Prince. Known for often making public appearances in military camouflage and a beret, he calls himself the leader of an "armed revolution". He had close connections with the Haitian Tèt Kale Party and was closely allied with Haitian president Jovenel Moïse until his assassination in 2021. Considered the most powerful gang leader and war criminal in Haiti, he is also currently believed to be one of the country's most powerful figures. He is believed to be responsible for numerous large-scale massacres against civilians in the Port-au-Prince area.
Since 2020, Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince has been the site of an ongoing gang war between two major criminal groups and their allies: the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies and the G-Pep. The Government of Haiti and Haitian security forces have struggled to maintain their control of Port-au-Prince amid this conflict, with gangs reportedly controlling up to 90% of the city by 2023. In response to the escalating gang fighting, an armed vigilante movement, known as bwa kale, also emerged, with the purpose of fighting the gangs. On 2 October 2023, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2699 was approved, authorizing a Kenya-led "multinational security support mission" to Haiti.
The political history of North America in the 2020s covers political events on the continent, other than elections, from 2020 onwards.
Michel Patrick Boisvert is a Haitian civil servant and politician who has served as the interim Prime Minister of Haiti since 25 February 2024. The Transitional Presidential Council, inaugurated on 25 April, has the power to replace him. Boisvert has served as Minister of Economy and Finance since 2020, initially in the cabinets of Joseph Jouthe, Claude Joseph, and Ariel Henry. Boisvert previously served as director-general of the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 2018 to 2020. Amid the February–March 2024 escalation of the Haitian crisis, Boisvert has served as acting prime minister, overseeing the operations of Henry's government during his absence from the country. Following Henry's formal resignation on 24 April 2024, Boisvert continued to serve as acting prime minister of Haiti.
The Transitional Presidential Council is a temporary body constituted on 12 April 2024 and sworn in on 25 April to exercise the powers and duties of the President of Haiti either until an elected president is inaugurated or until 7 February 2026, whichever comes first. Prior to the announcement of Ariel Henry's resignation and the inauguration of the TPC, Michel Patrick Boisvert was named interim prime minister by the Council of Ministers.
Fritz Bélizaire is a Haitian politician and civil engineer who was nominated by four of the seven parties of the Transitional Presidential Council to act as Prime Minister of Haiti. Before being nominated, he was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 2006 to 2011 under President René Préval and as an executive in the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communications. Bélizaire has been described as "little known", but was praised by Edgard Leblanc Fils, who was chosen the same day by the Transitional Presidential Council to be its president. Though designated by a majority, the choice was contested within the council. As a result, the "Indissoluble Majority Bloc" (BMI), composed of Smith Augustin, Emmanuel Vertilaire, Louis Gérald Gilles and Edgard Leblanc Fils, agreed to respect the procedure laid out in the 3 April 2024 agreement, thereby giving the other sectors a chance to make nominations. The council later started re-accepting submissions for the position of Prime Minister from 13–17 May, seemingly discarding the earlier decision to appoint Bélizaire.
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