Haiti Elects Jocelerme Privert as Interim President for the Next 120 Days
Chaos is rampant in the streets. Violence among opposing protesters are commonplace. Previous attempts at elections have failed. A president has stepped down without a successor. Indeed, Haiti's government is currently embroiled in very turbulent time. On Sunday, Feb. 14, however, the country might have finally managed to take one significant step forward.
The nation, despite all the troubles weighing it down, was finally able to select a leader that would lead it, at least for the next 120 days. After an intense 12-hour debate between opposing parties in the government about the rather unconventional election of a temporary president, Former president of the Haitian Senate Jocelerme Privert emerged as Haiti's interim president, according to CNN.
Privert's primary task as the temporary Head of State is to make sure that he has a proper successor; something which, ironically, the previous administration, under the leadership of former President Michel Martelly, was not able to do. A presidential election is not all that Privert's short-lived administration is tasked to do, however, as he is also expected to organize elections for key members of the country's legislature.
In a lot of ways, Privert is the man tasked with organizing an election that will ultimately decide the fate of the nation's government. The election that he is set to organize is scheduled for April 24, roughly two months from today. Once a new president is decided, Privert's interim administration is also expected to have Haiti's new president fully sworn-in on May 14, reported UPI News.
Considering the status of the country's political climate, such as timeline is very challenging indeed. After all, the country's previous elections, which were scheduled back in October, failed massively and resulted in widespread violence in Haiti's streets.
During the previous elections, Jude Celestin, a man a lot of Haitians favored lost to Jovenal Moise, a relatively unknown businessman who was suspected of being handpicked by Martelly to take his place. Eventually, Celestin declared his refusal to participate in an electoral race unless a fraud investigation over the October elections were initiated.
Martelly's government did try to hold elections again, on December 27 and later, on January 24. Both attempts were ultimately canceled, over violence and a general concern for Haitians' safety.
With the election of Privert as the nation's interim president, however, Haiti might finally be able to achieve some form of order. Though his tenure is set to be short, Privert's government would surely go down in Haiti's history as one of the most important. Getting the country back on its feet after this much political turmoil warrants a special kind of leader, after all.
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