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UN Security Council members warned Haiti’s leaders on Wednesday that time was running out to restore security and hold general elections as the deadline to install a new government loomed.
Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council is tasked with holding general elections before February 7, 2026, when the nine-member council must step down.
Carlos Ruiz Masiú, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, said, “The transition clock is ticking. I am concerned that a stable path toward the restoration of democratic governance has not yet emerged.” haiti And the head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
A date for general elections, held for the first time in nearly a decade, has not been announced as gang violence engulfs Haiti’s capital and beyond, but technical preparations are underway.
Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council has assessed polling stations in nine of the country’s 10 departments, identifying approximately 1,309 centers for an estimated 6.2 million voters.
The council has said the first round of elections will cost approximately $137 million. Haiti’s Justice Ministry announced late Tuesday that more than 220 political parties had begun the registration process.
But mass violence continues, with the United Nations recording 2,123 victims across Haiti from June 1 to August 31, and killings rising in Haiti’s Artibonite and Central departments.
“Haiti is really at a crossroads,” Mike Waltz, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said at Wednesday’s meeting. “The international community must stand with Haiti as it takes back control of its country… The political class and private sector in Haiti must do their part in support of the democratically elected government.”
united kingdom The representative reiterated Waltz’s comments at the meeting and praised the ongoing sanctions against some Haitians, noting that it is also important that future sanctions target the economic and political supporters of Haiti’s powerful gangs.
The push for elections comes about a month after the U.N. Security Council authorized a so-called gang suppression force that would replace a small U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that was understaffed and short of finances.
There is little information about the timeline for the deployment of the new force, which will have 5,550 personnel, a 12-month mandate and the power to arrest suspected gang members, which the current force lacks.
Russia Said on Wednesday he was concerned about the involvement of foreign mercenaries in Haiti as he condemned killings of civilians in the fight against gangs.
The United Nations said in a recent report that drone operations from March 1 to September 20 had killed 527 suspected gang members and 20 civilians, including 11 children. 28 other civilians, including nine children, were injured.
Gangs An estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince is under control, as ongoing violence has displaced a record 1.4 million people in Haiti.
According to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, temporary shelters have increased from 142 in December to 238 so far this year.
From January to June, more than 3,100 people were reported killed and more than 1,100 injured in Haiti, according to the United Nations.