2025-12-12

The February 7 date carries profound constitutional significance in Haiti marking the traditional presidential inauguration date commemorating the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship on February 7, 1986. The date appears throughout the 1987 Constitution as a fundamental institutional marker. The CPT was established in April 2024 through CARICOM mediation with explicit understanding it would govern only until February 7, 2026 when elected authorities would assume power. This timeline was negotiated by CARICOM and accepted by all political actors as a hard deadline establishing the constitutional compact legitimizing the current transitional government. Missing this deadline does not merely delay transition but fundamentally breaks the constitutional agreement. Haiti has not held national elections since 2016 when Jovenel Moïse was elected and inaugurated February 2017. Electoral calendar announcements have been repeatedly delayed, revised, and contradicted throughout the transition period creating patterns of institutional unreliability.