'Transition clock is ticking,' UN warns Haiti's leaders as elections appear unlikely

With three months remaining in Haiti’s rocky political transition, United Nations Security Council members are calling on the country’s leaders and politicians to quickly set aside their differences and avoid a political vacuum.

The urgent call comes amid the pending end of the current governance arrangement that expires on Feb. 7, 2026 — a date by which a newly elected president and Parliament were originally expected to take office but mostly likely will not. In addition to being hampered by a complex and deadly security landscape, Haiti’s ruling transition has also been dogged by corruption allegations, which have undermined its efforts to return the country to constitutional order. Haiti’s last general election was in 2016, and since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the Caribbean nation has not had one elected leader in office.

“Critical decisions will be required by national authorities and stakeholders in the weeks to come,” Christina Markus Lassen, the Permanent Representative of Denmark, said. “Sustained inter-Haitian dialogue remains crucial.”

In his latest report to the Security Council, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted that many Haitian political actors have expressed concern about the risk of a political vacuum if elections are not held on time.

The key people in Haiti hold diverging views on whether to maintain or modify the current transitional governance arrangement, Guterres said. Among the suggestions being discussed in Port-au-Prince: replacing the current nine-member Transitional Presidential Council with a judge from the country’s highest court as transitional president and a prime minister chosen through consultations; amending the arrangement to only three individuals and an oversight body to monitor government action, or extending the current group.

Several political figures, including a group of former prime ministers, proposed a one-year extension, starting on Feb. 7, 2026, under a new political accord, leading to elections by October 2026, the report said.

Guterres’s report is part of the regular update he is required to give the Security Council, which after supporting the extension of global sanctions for Haiti and issuing a new 12-month mandate for a Gang Suppression Force is also deciding on the renewal of the mandate of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti. The renewal of the political office received wide support from the council.

The United Kingdom’s deputy representative, highlighting the recent support for the U.S.-backed suppression force and continued sanctions, said it’s time for Haiti’s transitional presidential council “to step up and match the international community’s efforts.

“The Haitian authorities must work at pace to lay the necessary legislation to enable free and fair elections,” Ambassador Archibald Young said. “We call on all Haitian political actors to put their differences aside and work together in good faith to improve governance in Haiti, particularly ahead of the seventh of February.”

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Guterres’ new special representative in Haiti, told Security Council members that “the transition clock is ticking” and Haiti could not afford a political vacuum, especially amid its ongoing gang-driven violence.

“I am concerned that a steady path towards the restoration of democratic governance is yet to emerge,” he said. “However, I welcome the steps taken by national authorities to consult with political stakeholders to reach agreements on the necessary conditions under which elections should be held and to avoid a political vacuum beyond 7 February 2026.”

Since arriving in Port-au-Prince on Aug. 2, Ruiz Massieu said he has visited national authorities, civil society leaders, human rights advocates, political parties and Haiti’s international supporters.

“I have been able to witness firsthand the brutal reality of everyday life in the country, especially in Port-au-Prince,” he said. “There is no doubt that the circumstances are dire, but the Haitian people have not given up.”

Still, the scale and impact of the crisis is disturbing: More than 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes, while human rights abuses by gangs continue, Ruiz Massieu said as he highlighted the grim reality the secretary-general provided in his report.

Between July and August, gangs increasingly targeted farming communities on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and in other areas of the country, and staged multiple attacks against the national police. In the West region, a gang assault on the village of Labodrie in Cabaret resulted in more than more than 40 deaths, including six children. In the Artibonite, attacks during the same period left 42 residents dead and 29 injured, with two police stations set on fire.

Though gang violence has slowed down in the capital, farmers in Kenscoff, located in the hills, continue to be targeted, while killings have risen dramatically in the Artibonite and Center regions, the report said. The U.N. recorded 1,303 victims of homicides between January and August, compared with 419 during the same period in 2024.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said while the United States will do its part to support Haiti, the country's political class and private sector “must do their parts as well in support of a democratically elected government.”

Waltz said Washington will remain relentless in pursuing individuals who undermine Haitian security and arm and finance terrorist gangs. This includes expanding its use “of all available tools, using all means necessary, including indictments, arrests, financial sanctions, arms seizures, visa and other immigration restrictions, to counter the impunity that robs Haitian children of their futures.”

A number of U.N. diplomats, including the representatives of Panama and Russia, expressed concerns about civilian casualties resulting from security operations in Haiti. The issue was raised by Guterres, who tied it to the Haitian government’s use of armed drones through a contract with the firm Vectus Global to fight gangs. Vectus Global is owned by former Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

In August, two police officers were killed and six others injured when a government drone accidentally exploded. In September at least 21 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, a boy and three girls, Guterres’ report said. Another 41 others, including 7 children, were injured.

“We are extremely concerned about the recent increase in activity in Haiti of foreign mercenaries operating outside the legal framework,” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, who presided over the meeting, said. He added that the uncontrolled use of drones, “which has already resulted in several confirmed civilian casualties, is completely unacceptable, and we hope that this problem is not going to migrate into the new mission.”

Ruiz Massieu told the Security Council that despite the hostile environment the U.N. finds itself working in in Haiti, he is “leading efforts to swiftly complete the return of all its international personnel to Port-au-Prince, with the goal of achieving 100% staff presence in the capital as a matter of urgency at this critical stage of the political transition.”

Haiti’s ambassador to the U.N., Ericq Pierre, said that building peace requires the implementation of a national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration policy that is focused both on the removal of illegal arms and on the reintegration of young people.

“In this regard, the government invites (the U.N. Integrated Office) to strengthen its technical and institutional support for this policy, which is essential in order to bring about lasting security that is rooted in reconciliation, social cohesion and respect for human rights,” he said.

Pierre took note of the Secretary General’s report and said “the restoration of security” is the government’s top priority.

“The report does, however, indicate that the government is making great efforts to overcome these many challenges,” he said. “Despite a worrying security context and difficult socio-economic circumstances, the Haitian authorities are stepping up their actions to re-establish the state, to consolidate the Republic’s institutions and to create the conditions for a return to constitutional order.”

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