Under the guise of a “Third National Forum of Civil Society Organizations,” a shadowy initiative aims to legitimize a contested constitutional project—without transparency or real representation.
This Friday and Saturday, a forum convened by the organization Volontariat pour le développement d’Haïti (VDH) is set to take place at the Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince. Branded as the third edition of a national gathering of civil society delegates from across the country and the diaspora, the event raises serious concerns. The five-page concept note obtained by this outlet includes no names—no speakers, no signatories, no facilitators. No public records exist of the previous two editions.
According to multiple sources, the forum’s actual purpose is to fabricate a semblance of civic endorsement for the constitutional draft promoted by the Presidential Council, continuing a process initiated under PHTK with international backing.
The mention of diaspora delegates attending the forum is also questionable, given the current shutdown of Port-au-Prince’s main airport and widespread insecurity throughout the capital. The forum’s output—ambiguous “recommendations” from unnamed actors—would be used to simulate public consultation. Yet Article 284-3 of Haiti’s 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits any constitutional revision by referendum. This effort thus represents a deliberate attempt to bypass foundational democratic safeguards.
What this forum refuses to confront is the real crisis at the heart of Haitian governance: impunity. Since 2010, the country has seen repeated attempts to revise the Constitution, while the justice system remains paralyzed and state institutions deeply compromised. In this context, the Karibe gathering emerges not as a space for deliberation, but as a performative exercise meant to concentrate executive power and dismantle the democratic framework born from the 1986 transition.
A faceless forum becomes the perfect instrument for an agenda with no mandate from the people.
cba