Is a constitutional referendum feasible this summer?

We asked the question to political scientist and Organization of American States specialist Josué Sénat.

At the OAS, the Ministry of Justice Patrick Pélissier suggested that the Haitian government plans to hold the constitutional referendum sometime around summer 2025. Such a process, to be credible, requires, among other things, the presence of international observers, according to OAS Political Scientist and Specialist Josué Sénat.

The specialist adds that, since the 90s, the OAS has sent electoral observation missions to Haiti to accompany electoral processes and ensure their credibility. Constitutional referendums are among the electoral processes that the OAS observes through its EOMs.

However, to date, Haiti is not among the OAS member states expected to organize any electoral operation in 2025, according to the Organization's database consulted by the specialist.

In Haiti's case, to deploy an EOM, the OAS needs three to six months to facilitate the implementation of this operation, particularly due to funding difficulties – financial support from international partners is essential to enable the deployment of EOMs.

Currently, the funding Haiti hopes to receive is primarily intended for territorial security. The Minister's contacts at the OAS know this. They know that the organization has not received any official request for an observation mission for a referendum. They also know that there is no diplomatic or budgetary signal indicating that this referendum will take place. In other words, Minister Pélissier knew he was lying. There will be no constitutional referendum this summer.