| Conseil présidentiel de transition | |
 Presidential standard of Haiti | |
.jpg) Members of the Transitional Presidential Council following the installation ceremony on 25 April 2024 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 12 April 2024; 19 months ago (2024-04-12) |
| Preceding agency | |
| Type | Transitional government |
| Status | Active (since 25 April 2024 (2024-04-25)) |
| Headquarters | National Palace,Port-au-Prince, Haiti[1] |
| Agency executive |
|
| Key document |
|
Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History ofHaiti |
.jpg) |
| Pre-Columbian Haiti (before 1492) |
| Captaincy General of Santo Domingo (1492–1625) |
| Taíno genocide |
| Saint-Domingue (1625–1804) |
| First Empire of Haiti (1804–1806) |
| North Haiti (1806–1820) |
| South Haiti (1806–1820) |
| Republic of Haiti (1820–1849) |
| Second Empire of Haiti (1849–1859) |
| Republic of Haiti (1859–1957) |
| Duvalier dynasty (1957–1986) |
| Anti-Duvalier protest movement |
| Republic of Haiti (1986–present) |
| Timeline |
| Topics |
 Haiti portal |
TheTransitional Presidential Council (TPC;French:Conseil présidentiel de transition[kɔ̃sɛjpʁezidɑ̃sjɛldətʁɑ̃zisjɔ̃];Haitian Creole:Konsèy Prezidansyèl Tranzisyon) is a temporary body constituted by theCouncil of Ministers on 12 April 2024 and sworn in at theNational Palace on 25 April to exercise the powers and duties of thepresident of Haiti either until an elected president is inaugurated or until 7 February 2026, whichever comes first.
The gradual disintegration of Haitian state institutions during theHaitian crisis led to calls for acting prime ministerAriel Henry to step aside and surrender thede facto head of state functions.[5] The demands were led byJimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier, a former policeman who heads a coalition ofgangs in Haiti,[4] andGuy Philippe, a former senator and convict.[6][7] Henry was seen as illegitimate since he took over after the 7 July 2021assassination of presidentJovenel Moïse, and had repeatedly postponed thegeneral elections which he had promised to organize.[8] On 11 March 2024, Henry announced that he would resign and that a transitional council (whose membership would be determined inJamaica at an emergencyCARICOM meeting) would select an interim prime minister.[9]
On 3 April 2024, the transitional presidential council set up at theCARICOM meeting on 11 March had finalized its provisional list of representatives, who were appointed by the Council of Ministers on 16 April.[10]
After weeks of negotiation, a deal was sent to CARICOM on 7 April for a temporary government whose mandate will end on 7 February 2026.[11] One of the council's tasks is to elect a prime minister, who cannot already be a member of the transitional council or the provisional government.[12] The transitional council was officially created by a governmental decree published inLe Moniteur on 12 April.[13][3] The names of the nine members of the TPC were published on 16 April,[10] and they were sworn in at theNational Palace on 25 April amidst the sounds of automatic gunfire.[14] Prior to the announcement of Ariel Henry's resignation and the inauguration of the TPC,Michel Patrick Boisvert was named interim prime minister by theCouncil of Ministers.[14]
On 30 April 2024,Edgard Leblanc Fils was named chairman of the TPC, andFritz Bélizaire was designated as the prime minister by a majority of four votes, although the latter choice was contested within the council.[15] As a result, the council members agreed to have the chairmanship being rotated every five months among Fils, Louis Gérald Gilles, Leslie Voltaire and Smith Augustin. In addition, it also set up a requirement of five votes instead of four to form a majority.[16] The council later started accepting submissions for the position of prime minister from 13–17 May.[17] In late May 2024, the council extended the tenure of acting prime ministerMichel Patrick Boisvert for another month, and on 27 May six of the seven members with voting rights chose former UN special envoyBill Clinton's chief of staff and former prime ministerGarry Conille as his successor, discarding the earlier vote that selected Bélizaire.[18] Conille and members of the council met several times after his swearing-in, agreeing on names of 13 ministers to be a part of his cabinet, with the ministers being named on 11 June 2024.[19] The council and the new government later agreed to replace the director-general of theHaitian National Police.[20] On 7 October 2024, Voltaire was named to replace Fils as president of the council.[21]
Under the terms of the decree of 12 April 2024, the Transitional Presidential Council consists of seven voting and two non-voting members.[22] The voting members include one representative from each of four political party coalitions (Accord du 30 août 2021, Accord du 21 décembre 2022, Collectif des Partis politiques, and Compromis Historique/RED/EDE), two political parties (Fanmi Lavalas andPlatfòm Pitit Desalin), and "the private sector". The non-voting members include one representative fromcivil society and one representative from "the interfaith community".[3] On 16 April, the Primature confirmed the appointment of the nine members nominated by the Transitional Presidential Council in Kingston.[10]
Members of the TPC must meet the requirements for holding the office of president as established under Article 135 of theConstitution of Haiti and are disqualified from standing for the presidency in the next election.[3] Differences introduced in the decree include that individuals are ineligible for appointment to the council if they have been sanctioned by theUnited Nations, if they are under criminal indictment or have been found guilty of a crime in any jurisdiction, or if they oppose the introduction of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti. Similarly, the government added in article 5 that all members must pursue the accelerated deployment of the international security force.[23][24]
| Voting member | Party / Group[α] | |
|---|---|---|
| Fritz Jean | Inite /Montana Accord [fr;ht] | |
| Leslie Voltaire | Fanmi Lavalas | |
| Edgard Leblanc Fils[29] | Struggling People's Organization/30 January Collective | |
| Smith Augustin | EDE [fr]/RED-Historic Compromise | |
| Laurent Saint-Cyr (Chairman) | Private sector | |
| Louis Gérald Gilles | 21 December Agreement | |
| Emmanuel Vertilaire | Platfòm Pitit Desalin | |
| Observer | Party / Group | |
| Regine Abraham | Rally for a National Agreement (REN) | |
| Frinel Joseph | Religious sector | |
| No. | Voting member | Mandate | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edgard Leblanc Fils (born 1955) | 30 April 2024 | 7 October 2024 | OPL | |
| 2 | Leslie Voltaire (born 1949) | 7 October 2024 | 7 March 2025 | FL | |
| 3 | Fritz Jean (born 1956) | 7 March 2025 | 7 August 2025 | Inite | |
| 4 | Laurent Saint-Cyr (born Unknown) | 7 August 2025 | Incumbent | Private Sector | |
Under the terms of the decree of 12 April, the Transitional Presidential Council will exercise functions of the office of president until such time as a new president is elected and inaugurated.[22] Its mandate to act concludes on 7 February 2026.[22] The TPC's authority extends to the appointment of a prime minister and government and Henry has agreed to resign from the office of prime minister at such time as the TPC designates someone else to hold the office.[22]
On 2 October 2024, an official anti-corruption unit of the government recommended judicial review of three members of the Transitional Council—Smith Augustin, Gérald Gilles, and Emmanuel Vertilaire—for abuse of function, bribery, and passive corruption.[30]
The drafters of the agreement rejected the governmental decree on 13 April and called upon the members of the resigning government to publish the original agreement without modification.[31] Reactions within Haiti to the announcement of the TPC were mixed, with some Haitians questioning its constitutional legitimacy.[32] Shortly after the council's announcement, Jacky Lumarque, rector ofUniversité Quisqueya, described the council as not being a "Haitian-led" solution, calling it a "snake of seven heads".[33] He called for a judge of the Court of Cassation to be empowered as unitary acting president, instead.[33]
Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier said his forces would attack any person who accepted appointment to the council. Chérizier also invoked a traditional Haitian battle cry to describe the fate that would befall councilors: "Cut off their heads and burn down their houses".[32] Chérizier earlier objected to the lack of input his federation, theRevolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies, had had in governance transition talks. He also entered into an alliance with another federation of gangs, G-Pèp, to organize plans for armed resistance to any entry of foreign peacekeepers into the country as part of a future transitional arrangement.[34][35]
Camille LeBlanc, former Haitian minister of justice, said he welcomed the creation of the council but doubted the ability of such a body to resolve Haiti's political impasse.[36]
.jpg)
In an official statement,United Nations secretary-generalAntónio Guterres said he "welcomed" the creation of the Transitional Presidential Council and urged "all Haitian stakeholders to continue making progress in putting in place transitional governance arrangements".[37] The Caribbean Community welcomed the creation of the TPC saying it was a "Haitian owned formula for governance that will take the troubled country through elections to the restoration of the lapsed state institutions and constitutional government".[38]
TheUnited States Department of State stated the U.S. "welcomes" the creation of the TPC and "commends Haitian leaders for making tough compromises to move toward democratic governance via free and fair elections".[39]President of KenyaWilliam Ruto welcomed the creation of the TPC, writing on social media that "Kenya expresses confidence that the new political leadership will lay a strong foundation for resolution of the crisis in Haiti, restoration of security, afford the Haitian people a political transition and usher in sustainable peace and development".[40]
In a press release issued 14 April, Louise Mushikiwabo ofl'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie "commended" the creation of the Transitional Presidential Council.[41] On 15 April, theEuropean Union, through theEuropean External Action Service, said it was "crucial that the TPC is formally appointed without further delay by the outgoing government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry".[42]
Le Conseil présidentiel de transition siègera au palais présidentiel, selon le décret.
| Post–Revolutionary (1804–1859) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Post–Imperial (1859–1930) |
| |
| Post–Occupation (1930–1986) | ||
| Post–Duvalier (1986–2011) | ||
| Post–earthquake (2011–2021) | ||
| Post–Moïse (2021–present) |
| |
| ||