The (peaceful and regularly scheduled) transfer of power constitutes, in Haiti, the major limitation of our country, and always has. The nonexistence of a Permanent Electoral Council, after forty years of lamentable democratic process, is a reminder that stability is achieved first and foremost through the application of laws, norms, and principles—not through the rejection of legality and constitutional transgression. Hence the inefficiency and the astonishingly deficient nature of the electoral institution, sporadically headed by Councils composed of personalities equally lacking—often without managerial experience, without vision or patriotic consciousness. This is a chaotic factor that does not work in favor of a qualitatively stable State but, on the contrary, makes it virtually impossible to meet electoral deadlines, alongside the disloyal maneuvers of those in power and of radical oppositions to block or manipulate electoral processes. The post-Duvalier experience is haunted by a politics obsessed with conquering power for the sake of power, rather than governing in respect of constitutional principles, rather than ruling in full legality.

In the end, one always feels it as a shameful admission of defeat to say it, but it is true that today we live in a country without legitimate leaders for five years and that last held general elections more than ten years ago. In a country torn apart and polarized by gang violence and by the discredit/cretinism of elites obsessed with easy money, it remains astonishing that there is still interest in the question of whether electoral democracy is even possible and, if so, how it is still possible—or necessary. The electoral trap resembles more a labyrinth with no exit. In truth, a discrediting of the voting system has also begun here, alongside the politicization of numerous civil society organizations and the very low (declining) voter turnout, with citizens disenchanted and tired of the foolishness of our elected officials and leaders—incapable and often inconsistent. The proliferation of gangs linked to elections, through candidates using every means possible, has never truly been called into question, nor have businessmen or traders ready to do anything to safeguard their investments.