Haiti Elections: Disappointed, have Haitians finally learned how to pick a president | Editorial 

Haiti’s next elections are about more than choosing a president and electing lawmakers and local government officials. Those votes rather test whether Haitian voters have learned from nearly four decades of sociopolitical and economic disappointments.

Since the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, Haiti has repeatedly returned to the ballot box, hoping for political renewal amid a never-ending transition to democracy. The country held elections in 1987–1988, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2015–2016, with cancellations, disputed results and reruns complicating that history.

After the setbacks orchestrated by the military dictatorship between 1987 and 1990, most Haitians believed that the election of Jean-Bertrand Aristide would finally set the country on a democratic path and a track toward socioeconomic prosperity that would benefit all. However, nearly 40 years later, history has proven otherwise.

Now, with the first round of the 2026 presidential and legislative elections tentatively scheduled for Dec. 13, some of the same people who have engineered disappointments are reappearing. And another crop of politicians and social media public figures is emerging as potential candidates.

The question should not simply be: Who can save Haiti?

It should be: Who has earned the right to be trusted with the country’s leadership?

That distinction matters.

Haiti has spent too much of its political history looking for saviors. It needs voters willing to act as advised citizens.

“This time, we have a date with history,” economist Etzer Emile, founder-director of consulting firm Haiti Efficace and one of the rising stars shaping the new generation of Haitian politicians, said recently to local reporters.

“Young men and women across Haiti must understand that we all have the country’s future in our hands— together we can pull it out of crises. But we need to vote for the right candidates,” added the author of “Haiti Chose to Become a Poor Country.”

A new face does not necessarily mean a new system or change

Multiple political coalitions and parties with no clear ideology are being reorganized. Former officials, once disappeared, are returning to public debate. New personalities are attracting attention online. Platforms are forming alliances, and social media is helping turn speeches and videos into political events almost overnight.

But political novelty is not the same as political renewal.

A candidate can be young and offer a fresh look but be backed by an old political network. A familiar politician can present himself as a reformer. Someone who has never held national office can still be surrounded by people who have benefited from the old system, with no institutional safeguards in place.

That is why voters must look beyond the poster, the slogan and the viral video.

The central question is not whether a candidate looks different from the politicians who came before.

It is whether candidates would govern differently. Indeed, it is whether they can assemble a team of competent, trustworthy, and hardworking people around them with the intention of building an equitable country and serving the public interest—not themselves.

That requires a harder examination.

What is their overall plan, vision and understanding of state affairs?                                            Who finances their campaign?                                                                                                                Who are their advisers?                                                                                                                           Who are their political allies?                                                                                                                 Which economic interests support their candidacy? Who organizes their rallies and provides logistical support?                                                            What relationships exist between them and major business groups, foreign governments and other centers of influence?

And, perhaps most importantly: What happens when those interests conflict with the national interest?

Haiti cannot afford political amnesia

The names circulating in Haiti’s political debate include people with dramatically different backgrounds and records. Some are former presidents, ministers or legislators. Others come from business, diplomacy, academia or civil society.

They should not be judged as a single group.

But every person asking Haitians for political power should face the same basic test or scrutiny: What have you done, what have you learned, what will you do differently, who will you surround yourself with and who will hold you accountable?

That includes former leaders whose administrations remain controversial.

Michel Joseph Martelly and Laurent Salvador Lamothe, for example, remain important figures in Haiti’s political landscape. Martelly served as president from 2011 to 2016, while Lamothe served as his prime minister from 2012 to 2014. Both have faced sanctions from foreign governments over serious allegations of corruption, gang ties and Haiti’s destabilization, among other accusations.

Those sanctions are not Haitian judicial convictions, and they should not be treated as substitutes for due process. But neither should they simply disappear from public discussion.

The same principle applies to the management of funds from the 2010 earthquake rebuilding project, PetroCaribe, money transfers and international communication taxes, which became the defining governance controversies of the Martelly-Lamotte administration.

Haitians deserve to know from candidates what happened to public resources, who benefited, what investigations established and what institutional reforms could prevent similar abuses.

Also, the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse — Haiti’s last elected head of state — cannot become a footnote.

A presidential candidate who promises to rebuild Haiti must explain how his or her government would strengthen the rule of law and pursue accountability in major cases without turning justice into a political machine for retribution or persecution.

The demand is not for vengeance.

It is for truth, justice and functioning institutions that support democratic principles.

The electorate must examine every candidate — including the ‘popular’ ones

The temptation to build political heroes is particularly strong in a country exhausted by crisis.

An economist can become a political savior. A diplomat can become a national heroine. A former rebel and convict can become a symbol of resistance. A former president can be presented as an experienced statesman. A social-media personality can become a presidential contender before the public has seriously examined a governing program.

This is where Haiti must change.

Beyond the political and theoretical questions, anyone with ambitions for Haiti’s presidency—  regardless of popularity, political affiliation or personal appeal— should also answer practical ones. 

What is the economic strategy?                                                                                                              What is the security strategy?                                                                                                                   What is the diplomatic strategy?                                                                                                             How will agriculture, energy, education, health, tourism, technology and infrastructure be financed?     How will the justice system be reformed?                                                                                            What will be done to strengthen public administration?                                                                   How will the diaspora participate in national development?                                                                            

A candidate’s supporters may disagree with criticism. That is part of democracy. But no candidate should be exempt from scrutiny.

People are not stupid but exhausted

It is easy to blame Haitian voters for the country’s political failures.

Yet, that is also too simplistic.

People vote under extraordinary circumstances. Poverty, insecurity, displacement, political polarization, misinformation and economic desperation shape political choices. When people have been disappointed repeatedly, the promise of a different future can become enormously powerful.

Hope is not foolish. But hope without scrutiny can be dangerous.

Haitians must learn to separate admiration from evidence.

A candidate’s eloquence or charisma is not competence. Popularity is not a governing record. Patriotism is not a policy. A viral video is not a development plan. A large rally is not proof of political legitimacy.

And criticism of the established political order does not automatically make someone capable of replacing it.

The ballot should therefore become an act of inquiry before it becomes an act of choice.

Haiti needs partners, not bosses

The next Haitian president will also face a difficult international environment.

Haiti cannot isolate itself from the United States, Canada, France, the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the European Union (UE) or other international partners. The country needs investment, humanitarian assistance, security cooperation, diplomacy and access to international markets.

But cooperation should not eliminate sovereignty.

The next government must be capable of negotiating with foreign governments without surrendering Haiti’s national interests. It must be able to welcome investment without allowing private interests to capture public policy.

That will require more than patriotic rhetoric.

It will require competent diplomats, lawyers, economists, security experts, administrators and policy advisers who understand Haiti’s interests and can help defend them.

The real test of leadership will come when no camera is recording and no crowd is applauding.

The presidency is not a prize—have we finally learned?

Haiti does not need another political messiah.

It needs a president who understands that the state is not personal property, the treasury is not a political prize and public office is not an investment to be repaid by friends and allies.

The country needs institutions strong enough to survive individual leaders.

That means candidates should be required to present more than slogans. They should explain their governing programs, disclose their major sources of campaign financing, identify key advisers and explain how they would measure progress.

Voters, meanwhile, must demand answers before Election Day — not after another five-year disappointment.

The responsibility cannot rest entirely with the Provisional Electoral Council, political parties or international observers.

It belongs to citizens, too.

Forty years after the end of the Duvalier era, Haiti is still confronting many of the problems that have repeatedly undermined its democratic experiments: weak institutions, political fragmentation, corruption, insecurity, economic hardship and distrust.

Changing names will not automatically change those realities.                                                        A new face does not guarantee a new system.                                                                                      A new slogan does not guarantee a new policy.                                                                                   And a new generation does not automatically produce better leadership.

The next elections will therefore ask Haitians to make a choice that goes beyond individual candidates.

Haitians will be called to answer whether they are willing to change how they choose.

Before cheering, examine.                                                                                                                         Before believing, verify.                                                                                                                             Before voting, question candidates.                                                                                                                          

Who are you?                                                                                                                                           What have you done?                                                                                                                              Who finances you?                                                                                                                                    Who advises you?                                                                                                                                      Who surrounds you?                                                                                                                                What interests support you?                                                                                                                  What will you do when those interests collide with the interests of Haiti?                                 What will you do when foreign powers pressure you?                                                                      What will you do when your own supporters demand favors?

Those are not hostile questions. They are reasonable and fair questions.

Haiti has paid too high a price for choosing leaders based on charisma, anger, loyalty, fear or the promise of salvation.

“Haiti does not need a messiah, let alone a savior,” wrote Amos Cincir, journalist and special representative of the Office of the United Nations Youth Organization of Africa in Haiti (BOJNUAH), in an Aug. 23 Facebook post. 

“It asks for a state; a vision; a team of dignified and honest men and women, but above all, proven results. It asks for a statesman capable of looking at the past without trembling, at foreign powers without kneeling, and at his people without selling them miracles and populist slogans,” Cincir added.

Like a sinking ship, Haiti needs a captain to the rescue — and, just as importantly, it needs Haitians wise enough to examine the captain before handing over the helm.

In sum, the real question in 2026 is not whether Haiti can find another president.

It is whether Haiti has finally learned how to choose one.

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