By: Staff Writer
January 10, 2023
Haitian presidential candidate Jude Elie has already thrown his hat in the ring for the upcoming November presidential elections in Haiti and he believes he is the man to turn the embattled country’s fortunes.
Mr Elie, an engineer by profession, sits ahead of the presidential pack by having come out in the forefront, deciding to want to lead Haiti and working diligently towards providing hope for young Haitians.
Mr Elie told Caribbean Magazine Plus that a large part of his platform is “youth centric,” and vows to help younger Haitians as his campaign raises more money for the long haul. “The next step now is to raising more funds. We have some funds but we want to raise more funds, because we need to help other people as well in Haiti, we have to help the youth and be able to give them something. That is very important for us,” he said.
Mr Elie cautioned, however, about the pervasive gang culture that has taken over Haiti and crippled it since its last democratically elected President, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July of 2021. “We see the gangs in Haiti are getting worse and things are getting worse every day now with the gangs now in Haiti. So we need to restore law and order and it is important that we do that.
“We need to find a way to restore law and order and rebuild a nation. So that’s the situation right now.”
Gang violence is not a new problem in the Caribbean nation, but it has been on the rise, particularly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise worsened months of political instability and created a power vacuum.
Haiti’s de facto leader, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whom Moise chose for the post just days before he was killed, has faced a crisis of legitimacy, with some Haitian civil society groups urging him to hand power over to an inclusive, transitional government – a demand he has rejected.
Henry, who, without a president, has lost control of much of the country as reports of widespread rioting and looting along with violence and murders have splashed headlines across the world.
There are now an estimated 200 gangs operating across Haiti, and around 95 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, alone. This has resulted in a major insecurity crisis, with large-scale attacks on communities, politicians and journalists, high levels of violence, mass kidnappings and large-scale forced displacements
People are being killed by firearms, they are dying because they do not have access to safe drinking water, food, healthcare, women are being gang raped with impunity. The levels of insecurity and the dire humanitarian situation have been devastating for the people of Haiti