United Nations Security Council members arrived in Haiti on Friday for a three-day visit aimed at pressing the government to hold long-delayed elections in order to stem a mounting political crisis.

Envoys from the 15 member states of the international peace and security body are due to meet with President Michel Martelly and other government officials, as well as local UN representatives, political leaders and civil society.

“With this mission, the Security Council looks to … urge Haiti’s political actors to work cooperatively and without further delay to ensure the holding of free, fair, inclusive and transparent legislative, partial senatorial, municipal and local elections,” a statement from the UN’s MINUSTAH peacekeeping mission said.

The president has been ruling by decree since parliament was dissolved earlier this month, making him the sole leader of a country on edge, with sometimes violent opposition protests.

Haitians have been waiting for new elections for three years.

AFP / Hector Retamal

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power (L) speaks during a press conference after a meeting with Haitian President Michel Martelly (R) and representatives of 15 member states of the UN Security Council, in Port-au-Prince, on January 23, 2015

Martelly has attempted to calm the situation by naming opposition figure Evans Paul as his prime minister and signing a deal to hold new elections by the end of this year.

On Thursday, the president said he was forming his fifth electoral council tasked with organizing elections since he came to power in May 2011.

The UN ambassadors visited MINUSTAH headquarters shortly after their arrival, and are due to tour various projects in the capital and elsewhere in the impoverished Caribbean nation still reeling from a devastating 2010 earthquake.

ALSO READ  Turkey, Russia failed to reach common position on Syria’s Idlib – Source

They are due to assess the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions and the capabilities of the Haitian government, especially the national police.

In October, the council renewed MINUSTAH’s mandate for a year, but halved its force to 2,370 soldiers due to improved security conditions. The police force was maintained at 2,600 officers.

 

AFP

Share this article:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Notice: All comments represent the view of the commenter and not necessarily the views of AMN.

All comments that are not spam or wholly inappropriate are approved, we do not sort out opinions or points of view that are different from ours.

Be Civil

This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion

Please treat this discussion with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.

These are not hard and fast rules, merely guidelines to aid the human judgment of our community and keep this a clean and well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.

Make it better

Improve the Discussion

Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.

The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.

Now the hard part!

Be Agreeable, Even When You Disagree

You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:

  • Name-calling
  • Ad hominem attacks
  • Responding to a post’s tone instead of its actual content
  • Knee-jerk contradiction

Instead, provide reasoned counter-arguments that improve the conversation.