After the CPT Buries the Referendum Project: What Future for the CEP?
is moving towards an uncertain new political chapter. Following the decision by the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) to definitively abandon the constitutional referendum project, the country faces a crucial question: What becomes of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)?
By La Rédaction · Port-au-Prince · · 5 min read · Updated 24 April 2026
Translated from French — AI-assisted and reviewed by the editorial team. The French version is authoritative. Read the original · About our translation policy
Haiti is moving towards an uncertain new political chapter.
Following the decision by the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) to definitively abandon the constitutional referendum project, the country faces a crucial question: What becomes of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)? An indispensable body, the CEP finds itself suspended between international pressure and political urgency. The government's return to the National Palace, for the first time in nearly two years, was symbolic: the reappropriation of the center of power by a weakened state. But behind this image lies an implacable reality: the abandonment of the constitutional project and the upcoming installation of Jacques Desrosiers as president of the CEP redraw the contours of a political transition that has yet to find its direction. The Referendum Buried: Between Political Realism and Collective Failure The idea of a new constitution spanned Jovenel Moïse's entire five-year term before being timidly revived by the CPT. It was meant to correct the dysfunctions of a fragmented system, marked by a weak executive and institutional dependence. But from the outset, the project carried the seeds of its own deadlock: lack of consensus, widespread distrust, rejection by civil society, and unanimous criticism from legal experts. By abrogating the decrees establishing the national conference and the referendum process, the CPT implicitly acknowledges the political and moral impossibility of completing a constitutional reform in a country where social dialogue is broken and the legitimacy of power is constantly contested. This decision, hailed by some as a return to realism, nonetheless exposes the country to a void: without a new constitution or the development of an electoral framework, the transition remains legally precarious. The CEP, a Provisional Institution That Became a Structure of the Provisional Since 1987, the CEP was meant to be temporary. Thirty-eight years later, it has become the embodiment of permanent provisionality. With each crisis, a new Council is formed, based on political, religious, or corporatist designation criteria. None have survived popular distrust. The current CEP, now chaired by journalist Jacques Desrosiers, former secretary-general of the Association of Haitian Journalists (AJH), inherits an almost impossible mission: to organize general elections before February 7, 2026, the deadline set by the CPT and demanded by international donors. He himself acknowledged: « Restore confidence in the electoral process and allow the Haitian people to freely express their will. » A noble ambition, but one that clashes with implacable realities: widespread insecurity, territorial fragmentation, administrative collapse, and growing citizen disinterest in public affairs. « Haiti's real problem is not just the CPT, but transition as a permanent mode of government, » states former Minister of National Education, Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet, to highlight this constant desire of some politicians to seize power without going through the ballot box. The CEP thus finds itself at a crossroads: a necessary instrument for the return to constitutional legality, but a prisoner of a political structure that no longer has the means to guarantee either security or transparency. A Deep Legal and Political Vacuum The abandonment of the constitutional project creates an institutional paradox: the country is heading towards elections without a renewed framework, without clear constitutional arbitration, and without credible guarantee mechanisms. Nothing is said regarding the thorny issue of elected officials' mandates, which for thirty years has generated instability, as former President René Preval posited. Existing texts, based on a 1987 Constitution damaged by amendments, no longer address the complexity of the current situation: neither at the level of decentralization, nor electoral security, nor the issue of party financing. The CEP, supposed to act as an independent body, in reality depends entirely on the goodwill of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) for everything: budget, security, calendar, legitimization. It is therefore not an autonomous body, but an administrative instrument serving a transitional executive that is itself precarious. In this context, speaking of free elections amounts to ignoring the absence of a functional state capable of ensuring the minimal conditions for a credible ballot. CPT and CEP: A Disguised Power Dynamic While the CPT may affirm its desire to organize « free, credible, and transparent » elections, it remains the primary decision-maker regarding the fate of the CEP. « This structural dependence » illustrates a constant phenomenon in Haitian political history: the politicization of the electoral process. Each power seeks to “manufacture” its own CEP, often at the expense of public trust.
The appointment of Jacques Desrosiers, supported by some diplomats from BINUH and UNDP, can be read as an attempt to internationalize the guarantee of neutrality. But it also reveals another reality: the Haitian election will not happen without or against the goodwill of foreign partners. For the CPT, which is approaching the theoretical end of its mandate, the priority is no longer to reform the Constitution, but to deliver at least a signal of democratic openness before February 2026. The CEP thus becomes a strategic piece in the political communication of the transition, rather than a strictly electoral organizational instrument. The Ambiguous Role of International Partners Since the failure of the referendum, donors have maintained a cautious distance. UNDP, OAS, the European Union, and the United States continue to demand a clear timeline before any disbursement.
BINUH, for its part, maintains “vigilant goodwill”: it supports institutional efforts without replacing the state, while recalling the urgency of a return to constitutional order. But this gentle oversight hides a structural dependence: without logistical, financial, and security support from the international community, no national election is materially possible. The Haitian electoral process thus remains, as often, an exercise in sovereignty under assistance. And in this tension, Jacques Desrosiers, now at the head of the CEP, bears on his shoulders not only the heavy task of organizing elections, but also that of rehabilitating a fundamental political right: that for every Haitian to still hope in the Republic.
Following the decision by the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) to definitively abandon the constitutional referendum project, the country faces a crucial question: What becomes of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)? An indispensable body, the CEP finds itself suspended between international pressure and political urgency. The government's return to the National Palace, for the first time in nearly two years, was symbolic: the reappropriation of the center of power by a weakened state. But behind this image lies an implacable reality: the abandonment of the constitutional project and the upcoming installation of Jacques Desrosiers as president of the CEP redraw the contours of a political transition that has yet to find its direction. The Referendum Buried: Between Political Realism and Collective Failure The idea of a new constitution spanned Jovenel Moïse's entire five-year term before being timidly revived by the CPT. It was meant to correct the dysfunctions of a fragmented system, marked by a weak executive and institutional dependence. But from the outset, the project carried the seeds of its own deadlock: lack of consensus, widespread distrust, rejection by civil society, and unanimous criticism from legal experts. By abrogating the decrees establishing the national conference and the referendum process, the CPT implicitly acknowledges the political and moral impossibility of completing a constitutional reform in a country where social dialogue is broken and the legitimacy of power is constantly contested. This decision, hailed by some as a return to realism, nonetheless exposes the country to a void: without a new constitution or the development of an electoral framework, the transition remains legally precarious. The CEP, a Provisional Institution That Became a Structure of the Provisional Since 1987, the CEP was meant to be temporary. Thirty-eight years later, it has become the embodiment of permanent provisionality. With each crisis, a new Council is formed, based on political, religious, or corporatist designation criteria. None have survived popular distrust. The current CEP, now chaired by journalist Jacques Desrosiers, former secretary-general of the Association of Haitian Journalists (AJH), inherits an almost impossible mission: to organize general elections before February 7, 2026, the deadline set by the CPT and demanded by international donors. He himself acknowledged: « Restore confidence in the electoral process and allow the Haitian people to freely express their will. » A noble ambition, but one that clashes with implacable realities: widespread insecurity, territorial fragmentation, administrative collapse, and growing citizen disinterest in public affairs. « Haiti's real problem is not just the CPT, but transition as a permanent mode of government, » states former Minister of National Education, Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet, to highlight this constant desire of some politicians to seize power without going through the ballot box. The CEP thus finds itself at a crossroads: a necessary instrument for the return to constitutional legality, but a prisoner of a political structure that no longer has the means to guarantee either security or transparency. A Deep Legal and Political Vacuum The abandonment of the constitutional project creates an institutional paradox: the country is heading towards elections without a renewed framework, without clear constitutional arbitration, and without credible guarantee mechanisms. Nothing is said regarding the thorny issue of elected officials' mandates, which for thirty years has generated instability, as former President René Preval posited. Existing texts, based on a 1987 Constitution damaged by amendments, no longer address the complexity of the current situation: neither at the level of decentralization, nor electoral security, nor the issue of party financing. The CEP, supposed to act as an independent body, in reality depends entirely on the goodwill of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) for everything: budget, security, calendar, legitimization. It is therefore not an autonomous body, but an administrative instrument serving a transitional executive that is itself precarious. In this context, speaking of free elections amounts to ignoring the absence of a functional state capable of ensuring the minimal conditions for a credible ballot. CPT and CEP: A Disguised Power Dynamic While the CPT may affirm its desire to organize « free, credible, and transparent » elections, it remains the primary decision-maker regarding the fate of the CEP. « This structural dependence » illustrates a constant phenomenon in Haitian political history: the politicization of the electoral process. Each power seeks to “manufacture” its own CEP, often at the expense of public trust.
The appointment of Jacques Desrosiers, supported by some diplomats from BINUH and UNDP, can be read as an attempt to internationalize the guarantee of neutrality. But it also reveals another reality: the Haitian election will not happen without or against the goodwill of foreign partners. For the CPT, which is approaching the theoretical end of its mandate, the priority is no longer to reform the Constitution, but to deliver at least a signal of democratic openness before February 2026. The CEP thus becomes a strategic piece in the political communication of the transition, rather than a strictly electoral organizational instrument. The Ambiguous Role of International Partners Since the failure of the referendum, donors have maintained a cautious distance. UNDP, OAS, the European Union, and the United States continue to demand a clear timeline before any disbursement.
BINUH, for its part, maintains “vigilant goodwill”: it supports institutional efforts without replacing the state, while recalling the urgency of a return to constitutional order. But this gentle oversight hides a structural dependence: without logistical, financial, and security support from the international community, no national election is materially possible. The Haitian electoral process thus remains, as often, an exercise in sovereignty under assistance. And in this tension, Jacques Desrosiers, now at the head of the CEP, bears on his shoulders not only the heavy task of organizing elections, but also that of rehabilitating a fundamental political right: that for every Haitian to still hope in the Republic.
