Haiti: Two Dialogues, Two Trajectories, One Crisis

Port-au-Prince, Sunday, February 1, 2026 — Six days before the announced end of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT)'s mandate, the Haitian political scene has fragmented into two distinct consultation spaces, revealing the deep divisions traversing the transition. While an inter-Haitian dialogue opened at the Montana Hotel at the impetus of members of the Transitional Presidential Council, another political meeting was held simultaneously at the Oasis Hotel, leading to the proposal of a two-headed governance starting February 7. At the Montana Hotel: A Dialogue Under Tension, Observation, and Sovereignist Discourse At the initiative of Transitional Presidential Council members Leslie Voltaire, Edgard Leblanc Fils, and Louis Gérald Gilles, an inter-Haitian forum began this Sunday at the Montana Hotel. Around the table were representatives from the political sector, the trade union movement, the Vodou sector, and several social organizations. The presence of an observer from the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) contrasted, however, with the notable absence of traditional main international partners, particularly the United States, Canada, and France. It was in this context that diplomat Pierre Antoine Louis delivered a speech intended to be unifying but deeply sovereignist, stating: “Whatever formula a group of Haitians agrees upon, even if I don't agree, I will accept it as long as it is what is good for Haiti.” This statement, widely circulated in the corridors of the Montana, aimed to legitimize the ongoing process as a strictly national attempt to resolve the crisis. Pierre Antoine Louis went further by explicitly excluding any foreign interference or mediation in future choices: “I don't think that CARICOM, nor the OAS, nor the UN, nor the so-called friendly countries of Haiti — the United States, Canada, France — have anything to do with this… Haitians are meeting, whatever solution they find, they will apply it on February 7, 2026.” A stance that contrasts with the diplomatic reality observed since the beginning of the transition, largely framed by international actors, and which contradicts information from converging sources indicating that CARICOM and Washington would rather favor governmental continuity around Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. For his part, former deputy A. Rodon Bien-Aimé expressed support for an inclusive inter-Haitian dialogue but not with the continuation of the CPT. At the Oasis Hotel: An Assumed Political Alternative Meanwhile, in Pétion-Ville, under the aegis of the interreligious group, a significant segment of the Haitian political class, comprising dozens of party blocs and various movements, gathered at the Oasis Hotel. This meeting resulted in a strong political decision: the option of a two-headed governance, led by a judge of the Court of Cassation starting February 7, 2026. A five-member commission, notably composed of Djina Guillet Delatour, Annibal Coffy
and former senator Jean Renel Sénatus, was established to consult the Court's magistrates and assess their availability to assume this role. This approach reflects a desire to break with transitional mechanisms perceived as imposed, ineffective, or disconnected from popular reality. Two Meetings, One Observation These two parallel meetings reflect a worrying reality: the absence of a consensual, unifying, and recognized framework to organize the exit from the crisis. Between a weakened institutional dialogue, led by officials at the end of their mandate, and an alternative political initiative still uncertain operationally, the Haitian transition is ending in fragmentation. As February 7, 2026 approaches, these competing dynamics illustrate less a democratic vitality than a void of authority, where each side attempts to impose its interpretation of legitimacy, in a context of persistent international pressures and widespread popular distrust. Jean Wesley Pierre / Le Relief