Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council handed power to US-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé on Saturday as the country prepares for its first general election in a decade. The body was created two years ago, but has failed to stop the gang violence ravaging the Caribbean nation.

First modification: 02/08/2026 - 02:16

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The Presidential Transition Council (CPT) of Haiti ended its mandate this Saturday, February 7, without managing to restore public order in a country devastated by poverty and gang control. Executive power now rests with Prime Minister Alix Fils-Aimé.

The transfer of power between the council, created in April 2024 to restore stability, and the 54-year-old Haitian leader was overseen by a significant security presence due to the particularly tense political climate.

"The motto is clear: security, political dialogue, elections, stability. Mr. Prime Minister, in this historic moment, I know you understand the magnitude of the responsibility you have before the nation. Stay focused on the country's priorities," Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of the Presidential Transition Council, told Fils-Aimé during the handover ceremony.

Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who was already prime minister, becomes, with the dissolution of the Transitional Presidential Council, the only figure in the country's Executive. He will face the arduous task of working with a deeply divided political class to organize the elections.

6,000 gang victims

Haiti has suffered for many years from violence by criminal gangs, who commit murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings. As the poorest country in America, it has not held elections since 2016 and has been without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.

According to the UN, gangs control 90% of Port-au-Prince, the capital, and murdered almost 6,000 people in 2025.

Fearing an institutional vacuum, Washington, which sent three warships to Haiti this week, has openly expressed its support for Fils-Aimé.

At the end of January, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized "the importance of his remaining Prime Minister of Haiti to combat terrorist gangs and stabilize the island." A few days later, the State Department sanctioned two members of the Committee for the Prevention of Terrorism and a minister, accusing them of supporting gangs.

For several weeks, Haitian police have been carrying out a large-scale offensive against these criminal gangs in central Port-au-Prince, which has resulted in the dismissal of one of their most notorious members, Jimmy Cherizier, known as 'Barbecue'.

With AFP

Article adapted from its original in French

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