The interim Prime Minister of Haiti, Claude Joseph, confirmed on Wednesday media reports regarding the assassination of the country's president, Jovenel Moïse, at his residence. Reports indicated that Moïse was killed in an assassination attack at his private residence. Joseph stated in a release that unidentified assailants attacked President Moïse's residence during the night and shot him. According to the Reuters agency, the statement said, "Around one o'clock in the early hours of Tuesday to Wednesday, a group of unidentified individuals, among them speakers of Spanish, attacked the residence of the President of Haiti, inflicting a fatal injury."
He added, "The necessary measures are now being taken. Prime Minister Dr. Claude Joseph urges residents to remain calm. The security situation in the country is under control." This assassination comes amid severe crises facing the country on political, economic, and security levels. Haiti, located in the Caribbean, is among the poorest countries in the Americas.
The assassinated president had postponed a constitutional referendum that was scheduled for late June, indefinitely due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis. However, the referendum faced strong opposition from Moïse's adversaries, which may have been the real reason for its postponement, especially as the country witnessed massive protests against his rule.
The opposition and civil society organizations question the legitimacy of President Moïse, who has ruled the country since January 2020 through presidential decrees due to the absence of parliament following delayed elections. While the assassinated president claimed that his presidential term would end in February 2022, the opposition asserts that his term actually ended in February 2021. This contention stems from Moïse's initial election in 2017, which was annulled due to fraud, leading to his re-election a year later in 2018.
In February, Moïse's government announced that it had thwarted an attempt to assassinate him and overthrow the government. In terms of security crisis, authorities in Haiti declared a state of emergency in some neighborhoods of the capital and another area to re-establish governmental authority in regions that had fallen under gang control.
A census conducted by UN agencies noted that over ten thousand residents from impoverished neighborhoods in the capital had to leave their homes due to violence or fires, according to AFP. The country is living under the grip of armed gangs that control various areas.
