Crisis at the Top: The Council of Ministers of December 1, a Reprieve or a Resurgence for Prime Minister Fils-Aimé?

The events of Monday, December 1, 2025, once again reveal the chronic instability and sovereignty deficit plaguing the top echelons of the Haitian state. While everything indicated that Prime Minister Fils-Aimé would be removed after threats via WhatsApp messages from Canadian and American diplomats to the various presidential advisors, he not only participated in the Council of Ministers but also oversaw the adoption of a key electoral decree. Should this be seen as an act of authority, a simple survival reflex, or a maneuver imposed from outside? In my opinion, this Council of Ministers does not signal a political victory for the Prime Minister, but rather a momentary defeat for his adversaries, who were unfortunately forced to retreat under pressure from the international community. Because that is the heart of the problem: Haitian politics too often gives the impression of being played out less in Port-au-Prince than in Ottawa or Washington. The Aborted Removal: A Retreat, Not a Renunciation Hostilities against Fils-Aimé, accused of incompetence, are not new. For weeks, an influential faction composed of four presidential advisors has been working behind the scenes to bring about his downfall, driven as much by their dissatisfaction with the government's results as by clan rivalries. His presence at the Council on December 1 does not erase these tensions; it merely suspends them. The Prime Minister's adversaries have not given up: they may have recalculated. An Electoral Decree as a Pledge of Diplomatic Good Conduct The speed with which the electoral decree setting elections for August 30, 2026, was adopted and published in Le Moniteur testifies to an urgency that transcends the Haitian state itself. It was necessary to show good faith. It was necessary to send the international patrons minimal signs of a CPT that obeys and a country that is moving forward. But can one truly move forward when major decisions are made more to appease foreign entities than to address internal or local emergencies? The rapid, and threatened, adoption of this electoral decree illustrates a disturbing truth: Haitian sovereignty remains largely conditional. Fils-Aimé: Head of Government or Conductor on a Mission? The Prime Minister emerges from this day, Monday, December 1, neither strengthened nor weakened: he emerges tolerated. Tolerated to avoid an additional crisis. Tolerated to avoid further sanctions. Tolerated to maintain the illusion of institutional continuity. Tolerated because he cannot yet be overthrown. But how long will this tolerance last?
And above all, what kind of governance can emerge from a framework where even vital decisions are dictated by the fear of disappointing foreign partners or patrons? The Real Problem: The Haitian State Plays Permanent Defense What happened on December 1 is not a turning point; it is a symptom. A symptom of a state that no longer controls its own agenda. A symptom of a moribund political class that governs day-to-day, never long-term. A symptom of a power obsessed with survival, not with vision. The question of the day is therefore not: "Did Fils-Aimé thwart the attempt to remove him?" But rather: "How long will we tolerate a system that operates exclusively under pressure, without direction, without ambition, and without sovereign roots?" The Council of Ministers of December 1 did not avert a crisis. It merely postponed it. Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet