Organizing elections to transfer power to legitimate authorities is the ultimate mission entrusted to the Fils-Aimé administration. Nearly five months after assuming full control of the executive branch following the expiration of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), is Prime Minister Didier Fils-Aimé on track to fulfill that mission? Neither the government nor the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) can answer that question with certainty—unless they simply wish to ease their own conscience. What is certain is that the electoral machinery is not moving forward; if anything, it appears to be spinning its wheels.

Since the registration of political parties wishing to participate in the elections, no significant progress has been made in the electoral process. On the contrary, the government has sent mixed signals—notably its back-and-forth handling of the electoral decree—that raise doubts about its willingness to steer the country toward elections in the near term.