The interim prime minister of Haiti, Claude Joseph, has announced the declaration of a state of siege after the assassination of the president, Jovenel Moise, who died early Thursday during an assault on his private residence in the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince.
Joseph has given a speech to the nation at the end of an extraordinary Council of Ministers to update the measures at a time that he himself has recognized as “difficult” and in which he is confident that he can guarantee the “continuity” of the State.
The state of siege, which Haitian legislation proposes in principle for an initial period of 15 days, places the Armed Forces as the maximum guarantors of security and implies the establishment of military courts. It also opens the door to control of the media, according to a recent analysis by the newspaper ‘Le Nouvelliste’.
In this sense, Joseph has urged all parties to join in this same “battle” to “win” democracy, in an apparent attempt to avoid the power vacuum that could be generated after the absence of a head of state and the lack of renewal of Parliament.
Article 149 of the Constitution stipulates that in the absence of the president “due to resignation, dismissal or in the event of permanent physical or mental incapacity”, it corresponds to the Council of Ministers, “under the presidency of the prime minister”, to exercise executive power until the election of a new head of state.
The Magna Carta, precisely pending renewal, stipulates a period of between 60 and 120 days to advance in this renewal, although it establishes an exception, in the event that the president was in his last year – as is the case of Moise. – The National Assembly could meet to elect a president on a “provisional” basis, reports ‘Free Haiti’.
