Haitian group seeks Caricom intervention amid efforts to remove prime minister
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The National Conference of Actors for New Governance (NCANG) in Haiti has written to Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, seeking its in “the immediate creation of the mediation and transfer of power committee”.
The development comes amid efforts to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime within 30 days.
The NCANG in its January 23 letter to Barnett, a copy of which has been obtained by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), said that together with several Haitian civil society organisations, they wanted to alert Caricom “of the gravity of the national crisis and the rapid deterioration of the political and social situation” in the French-speaking member state.
“With the expiration of the mandate of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) approaching on February 7th, 2026, it has become imperative to establish a Mediation Committee. This committee must serve as an impartial and inclusive framework to initiate negotiations among Haiti’s various stakeholders, with the goal of reaching consensus on the new governmental structure that will replace the CPT,” the letter states.
Earlier this month, the Caricom Eminent Persons Group (EPG) warned that it is “vital that stakeholders, civil society and the people of Haiti reach a consensus before 7 February 2026,” adding that “a failure to do so could lead to unwanted repercussions”.
The EPG, comprising the former prime ministers of St Lucia, Jamaica and the Bahamas, said time is of the essence and that it has continued to render its good offices to Haitian stakeholders as they address “the myriad political, security and institutional challenges facing Haiti at this time”.
Haiti has been without an elected head of state since July 2021 when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated at his private residence overlooking the capital, Port-au-Prince. Since then, criminal gangs have been seeking to overthrow the provisional government and have taken control of a vast section of the capital.
Earlier this week, a resolution for Fils-Aimé’s dismissal had the support of five members of the CPT, before advisor Smith Augustin finally reversed his decision and refused to sign.
In correspondence addressed to the members of the Council, president pro tempore and coordinator of the CPT, Laurent Saint-Cyr, said he was opposed to any resolution aimed at calling into question governmental stability ahead of February 7.
But on Friday, two CPT members, Leslie Voltaire and Edgard Leblanc Fils, told a news conference that they intend to proceed with a plan to remove Prime Minister Fils-Aime within 30 days following established procedures, despite warning from the United States that such a move would have consequences.
“We are the ones who appointed Didier Fils-Aime in November 2024. We are the ones who worked with him for a year, and it is up to us to issue a new decree naming a new prime minister, a new government and a new presidency,” Voltaire told reporters.
The CPT was appointed in 2024 to oversee a move towards Haiti’s first election in a decade, but this has been repeatedly pushed back due to a collapse in security amid a bloody conflict with powerful, heavily armed gangs.
Fils-Aime, speaking at a police event in Port-au-Prince on Friday, warned that “neither criminals wearing ties nor criminals wearing flip flops” would dictate the law and warned that anyone who stood against the police or the state would face a firm response “without weakness, without compromise”.
US Charge d’Affaires, Henry Wooster, who was also at the police event, said it was essential that Fils-Aime stay on to safeguard the fight against gangs.