The significant investments made in U.S. lobbying no longer appear sufficient to guarantee the permanence of members of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) and the government of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
The United States is visibly running out of patience with the repeated failures of the CPT leadership, an institution it helped bring into existence.
During a press briefing in New York, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Haiti delivered an unambiguous message to the leaders of the transitional government.
“These are not lifetime jobs,” declared Henry Wooster, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Haiti, issuing a direct warning to the transitional authorities.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, Wooster made it clear that neither the prime minister nor the members of the CPT can hold their posts indefinitely.
“These are not lifetime jobs,” the diplomat reiterated, according to Gazette Haïti.
Explaining the current governmental structure, Wooster said: “There is a prime minister heading the government and a head of state, who is the president of the CPT. The president of the CPT is here, representing Haiti at the U.N. General Assembly. But these positions are not for life.”
The U.S. representative emphasized the necessity of an electoral process for the country’s institutional future. “The Haitian people must go to the polls and elect a president,” he stated, while acknowledging the major obstacles, including rampant insecurity, internal divisions within the CPT, and ongoing constitutional debates.
Henry Wooster underscored the importance of the constitutional framework as the foundation of national sovereignty:
“The crucial question is whether you, the Haitian people, need to amend your constitution before holding legitimate elections, whether such revision is required to ensure the election of a credible and competent head of state, or whether these changes can wait. This is a fundamental issue. In any country, the constitution—the vital connective tissue that guarantees sovereignty—should remain a priority.”
Security as the Top Priority
According to Wooster, transitional authorities must not use the security crisis as a pretext to extend their mandate. Institutional debates should not overshadow the urgent need to address the country’s collapse into violence.
“In other words, people cannot occupy these positions for life. These are not lifetime jobs. There is a history here, and it is not a good one. It has greatly contributed to the instability of the Haitian state,” the U.S. diplomat stressed, adding: “There must be a democratically elected head of state. That must happen. The question of whether, how, and the constitutional details—that is for Haiti to decide.”
Although the CPT and its government are expected to organize elections before February 2026, Haiti remains trapped in a cycle of escalating gang violence and state breakdown. Armed groups continue to control most of Port-au-Prince and its surroundings, undermining the transitional government’s initiatives. Negotiations are currently underway to redefine the mandate of the multinational force tasked with supporting the Haitian police and restoring minimal stability.
Wooster’s remarks come at a critical juncture in the transition calendar. Last May, former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Dennis B. Hankins had already issued a stark warning to the CPT, citing the deadline set by the April 3 agreement: “It is now a matter of 278 days before February 7, 2026, when a president is supposed to be elected and new institutions established.” At the time, Hankins stressed the urgency of developing a concrete strategy to restore constitutional order: “Time is limited. There must be original ideas for how to restore Haiti’s democratic and constitutional institutions,” Gazette Haïti reported.
According to the outlet, Wooster’s message leaves no room for doubt: the legitimacy of the prime minister and CPT members is strictly limited to a defined transition period, which must culminate in the democratic election of a new president.
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Source: www.gazettehaiti.com
