Haiti PM commits to elections by 2025, CARICOM to send team

By Sarah Morland

(Reuters) -Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has committed to holding general elections by Aug. 31 next year, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said in a statement on Thursday, a day after the conclusion of a regional summit in Guyana.

CARICOM said it would send an assessment team to evaluate electoral needs by March 31 of this year to support planning and establishment of the relevant institutions.

Henry, who came to power after the assassination of the country's last president, Jovenel Moise, in 2021, had previously pledged to step down by early February, but later said security must first be re-established in order to ensure free and fair elections.

Crowds came to the streets to protest around the previous date, and on Thursday there was fresh violence marked by heavy gunfire in downtown Port-au-Prince as prominent gang leader Jimmy Cherizier called for Henry's government to be toppled.

Since Moise's assassination, hundreds of violent gangs have since expanded their territory, coalescing around two main alliances, and are now estimated to control most of the capital.

The Caribbean nation last held elections in 2016 and its last senators' terms expired more than a year ago.

Henry had in October 2022 called for a "rapid" international security force to help under-resourced national police fight the heavily armed gangs, and though the U.N. ratified sending such a body a year later there is still no set deployment date nor are there details on how large the force would be.

On Thursday, a U.N. spokesman said the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad had formally notified the United Nations of their intent to contribute personnel. Kenya has offered to lead the mission with some 1,000 police officers.

Kenya's proposed leadership is facing a constitutional challenge at home, but officials from Haiti and the African country have continued to hold meetings. Public pledges of support are overwhelmingly from developing nations.

The United States has meanwhile pledged $200 million in support, Canada around $60 million and France close to $4 million. The U.N. spokesman said less than $11 million has so far been deposited into the U.N.'s designated trust fund.

The ratification of the force is tied to the goal of facilitating electoral conditions as well as securing routes for humanitarian aid, as the conflict plunges millions of Haitians into acute hunger and blocks off access to medical care.

Speaking ahead of a regional summit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would push for more funding for the force as well as humanitarian aid during the talks on Friday, and noted some progress on scheduling of elections.

"We absolutely need now to move quickly," he said, saying it was important that "things are not postponed and that nobody is dragging their feet."

Regardless of how many troops are deployed, he added, a political solution remains crucial.

(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City and Robertson S. Henry in Kingstown; Editing by Kylie Madry and Christopher Cushing)