The U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Haiti, Henry Wooster, spoke of “obstacles” on the road to elections to choose a president, stressed that constitutional reform and security issues cannot be used as pretexts for inaction, and reminded that the positions of prime minister and presidential advisers are not “lifetime posts,” during an exchange with journalists in New York on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.

“Haitians must go to the polls and elect a president. Several obstacles stand in the way. These obstacles range from security crises, to the refusal of certain members of the Transitional Presidential Council to act, to move, and also include the thorny question of the Haitian constitution,” observed Henry Wooster, who raised the following question: “The question is this: must Haitians amend the Haitian Constitution before being able to organize legitimate elections, or must they amend the Constitution in order to have a credible elected head of state—a distinction—a credible one, or can this wait? It is an important question. I think the issue of the Constitution, which is the connective tissue that holds together your sovereign enterprise, is important in any country. So it is a legitimate question,” he said, before pointing to the “problem.” “The problem is that security, this constitutional issue, and the question of elections must not be used as a pretext for failing to act,” said the U.S. chargé d’affaires.