A Haitian-led Solution Moves Forward

On Sunday, December 12, the Bureau de Suivi de l’Accord du 30 aout 2021 installed the National Transitional Council (CNT). Forty-six members joined. A full list of those members can be found here. For some like sociologist and CNT member, Delson Cius, the Montana Accord is the only proposed solution to Haiti’s political crisis that consists of a broad enough coalition to have legitimacy.

As part of its mission, the Office Monitoring the August 30 Accord (Montana Accord) will establish numerous agencies to manage the transition. The National Transitional Council (CNT), a key one of these agencies, was established this past Sunday with less than the ideal number of members.

This circumstance can be explained by three factors. For starters, certain political parties have yet to finish the consultation procedure to send representatives to the CNT.

There are also cases where representatives have not yet collected all the documents required by the Accord Monitoring Offices. The delegate, for example, must show proof that they have paid their taxes.

A third contributing factor is that some parties called to the table have defected to other groups. These include the Democratic and Popular Sector (SDP), Pitit Dessalines, the National Settlement Protocol (Pen), Anfòs-Mola, Unir-lòd Demokratik, and MTVAyiti. Several of these political parties signed the September 11 Accord with Ariel Henry.

It should be noted that the selection process for delegates was designed to be as transparent as possible. In fact, there have been press conferences about the selection procedure to make sure that all questions can be answered.

One of the delegates to the CNT from the political sector, Delson Cius, dismissed the idea that the Montana Accord could be stopped at this point.

He states that other accords do not consider the complexity of the crisis while the Montana Accord does. According to him, today's problems did not begin with the PHTK regime. The situation ripened over many decades before it erupted under this administration.

"People must realize that we cannot rush to find a solution to the current situation since it has deep roots that date back to the US occupation period, and still, we could even go further into our history," says Cius.

According to Cius, a sociologist, the Montana Accord heeds the old saying, "Haste makes waste."

Cius is responsible for the Haiti Standing Movement (MAK). The activist also said that the current government has neither the capacity to reassure the diaspora nor reaffirm the country's sovereignty. No government can resolve the crisis without broad legitimacy.

Other agreements are reached more quickly because they consist of fewer sectors of society. As such, they do not have enough legitimacy to resolve the crisis.

The National Transitional Council (CNT) will soon become the Transitional Monitoring Body. Therefore, it is essential that its members truly represent the breadth of Haitian society.

Several weeks ago, the Montana Accord Monitoring Office published an incomplete list of 25 National Transitional Council delegates. A total of 46 joined at the installation ceremony on December 12th. The full list can be found here.

List of 42 delegates to the CNT

Disclosing these names is part of the Accord's process for ensuring that complaints against delegates don't prevent progress. The Monitoring Office set a two-day deadline for receiving any complaints against proposed National Transitional Council members.

So what are the requirements to represent a group as a delegate to the CNT? One must be at least 30 years old, have never been convicted of serious misconduct, provide five years of tax returns, have a decent reputation, and be honest and credible.

Delson Cius stressed the need for the National Transitional Council to elect a transitional president and a head of government to validate the CNT and the entire process.

In the coming weeks, the National Transitional Council will work with the delegates from around the country and the diaspora to transform itself into the Transitional Monitoring Body. It will monitor how the transition of power unfolds. Most importantly, this council exists to hold all actors in this process accountable to the diverse population of Haiti.

Adapted from an article by Cliff Coulanges

*translated from Creole to English by Liz Tillias