PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — The members of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) will be sworn into office on Thursday, a member of the council has confirmed.

Lesly Voltaire said that the ceremony, which was originally scheduled for the National Palace, will now take place at the Villa d’Accueil (Musseau) at 10:00 am (local time).

Media reports said that the daily attacks in the Champs de Mars area by criminal gangs and the need to keep the bandits out of the perimeter were the reasons behind the change in venue.

Following the inauguration, the CPT will proceed to the election of the president-coordinator of the transition council, with at least four people, Louis Gérald Gilles, Lesly Voltaire, Edgard Leblanc Fils and Fritz Alphonse Jean being among the names earmarked for the position.

The media reports said that the number of guests has been considerably reduced, with each CPT member being allowed to invite 10 people in addition to the diplomatic corps and the consular corps.

Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry, who was sworn in as prime minister with the backing of the international community shortly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has already indicated that he would step down once the CPT is officially installed and a new prime minister sworn in ahead of the fresh elections.

Henry is stranded in Puerto Rico having been unable to return home from Kenya where he witnessed the signing of an agreement that would allow the African country to lead a United Nations Security Council sanctioned Multinational Security Mission (MSS) to restore peace and security in Haiti.

Earlier this month, both the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) grouping welcomed the establishment of the CPT.

For his part, Guterres urged all Haitian stakeholders to continue making progress in putting in place transitional governance arrangements, including the timely appointment of an interim prime minister and government, and the nomination of the members of the Provisional Electoral Council.

Caricom in welcoming the publication of the decree establishing the CPT, had earlier this month, said it “signals the possibility of a new beginning” for the French-speaking Caricom country.

“Caricom has supported Haiti, its sister nation, through the challenging process of arriving at a Haitian owned formula for governance that will take the troubled country through elections to the restoration of the lapsed state institutions and constitutional government.”

In its statement, Caricom said the CPT “has devised a framework setting out the creation, organisation and functioning of the council, and arrived at a Political Accord that articulates the way forward”.

”The Caricom Heads of Government fully endorse the principles of the Political Accord, and in particular take note of Article 16 which states, “The mission of the presidential council is to put Haiti back on the road to dignity, democratic legitimacy, stability and sovereignty and to ensure the proper functioning of the state’s institutions,” the statement added.