Felipe Calderón and Jorge Quiroga lead the fourth Club de Madrid/European Union mission to Haiti

Facilitate confidence-building and holding of elections in 2015 will be the main issues to be adressed during the mission. Taking into consideration the exceptional circumstances and the resulting new political landscape – new Prime Minister and Cabinet, new Provisional Electoral Council, no Legislature with a Parliament no longer operational, a Political Accord concluded between President Martelly and several opposition parties as well as the Presidential Consultative Commission’s recommendations endorsed by President Martelly, the objectives of the mission will be the following:

  • Plead for the holding of fair, transparent and inclusive elections in 2015, and share a comparative analysis on the electoral system;
  • Analyse the implications of the current political situation and foster political dialogue and consensus building between the parties, in order to reduce the risks of aggravation of the current political crisis.

The agenda includes bilateral meetings with the principal authorities of the country – including President Martelly, Prime Minister Evans Paul, as well as with key opposition political leaders from parties Fanmi Lavalas, OPL, KPL, FUSION, Ayisyen pou Ayiti, INITE, and relevant international community actors.

Background

The EU funded project “Promoting Dialogue for Democratic Reform in Haiti” has the following objectives:

– To identify multi-stakeholder areas for dialogue and negotiation so as to bring together the country’s key players and stimulate collective reflection on commonly identified democratic governance priorities.

– To accompany Haitian leaders in the management of immediate political challenges and support them in their search for solutions.

– To promote dialogue on medium and long-term democratic reforms through pragmatic agreements leading to political actions.