Haiti President Jovenel Moise assassination: What do we know so far
Haiti, a Caribbean nation of more than 11 million people, had grown unstable under Jovenel Moise amid a constitutional crisis.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise was on Wednesday found assassinated at his private residence, according to the country’s interim prime minister Claude Joseph.
Condemning the attack as a “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act", Joseph said in a statement that a group of unidentified assailants attacked Moise’s home at around 1am on Wednesday and fatally shot the head of the state. First Lady Martine Moise was also shot and is currently receiving treatment, added Joseph.
“The country’s security situation is under the control of the National Police of Haiti and the Armed Forces of Haiti," Joseph stated, adding, “Democracy and the republic will win.”
While Joseph said that some of the assailants spoke Spanish, but offered no further explanation on who could be behind the assassination. The interim prime minister said that police have been deployed to the National Palace and the upscale community of Pétionville.
Haiti, a Caribbean nation of more than 11 million people, had grown unstable under Moise amid a constitutional crisis. Moise, a former banana exporter, and his supporters had been claiming that his term should end in 2022, five years after he took the office in early 2017. This stance was also backed by the United States, the UN and the Organization of American States.
However, the opposition leaders were of the view that Moise should have stepped down in February this year, citing a constitutional provision that starts the clock when a President is elected, not when he takes office. Moise took the office a year after he was elected following a chaotic election that forced the appointment of a provisional President to serve during the year-long gap.
Opposition leaders accused Moise of seeking to increase his power as he had been ruling by decree for more than two years after Haiti failed to hold elections. Haiti has also been facing deep economic, political and social woes.
The capital of Port-au-Prince has been witnessing a spike in gang violence amid a scarcity of food and fuel. About 60% of Haiti’s population makes less than $2 a day and the region has been trying to recover from the devastation caused by the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew that struck in 2016.
(With agency inputs)
