PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A record 280 political parties registered for Haiti's first general election in a decade. The deadline was Thursday. Not all parties will be approved to participate.
Still, many new parties are hopeful. They want to help solve Haiti's problems, which mainly come from gang violence and corruption.
New Parties Emerge
One new party, CAHDOA (Collective of Haitian Actors for Development and Alternative Organization), registered with a marching band. The group clapped and chanted, "We are on board!"
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Start Your News DetoxAbel Decollines, a party member, hopes everyone can vote. He said Haiti needs a new leader to help its people.
The EDE party, Committed to Development, also registered. Claude Joseph founded this party. He was prime minister when President Jovenel Moïse was killed in 2021.
Joseph and his supporters wore green and white. They marched to the election council's office. Joseph posted on X that his party wants to end political control in Haiti. He called this control a "failure of eternal political transitions."
Election Challenges
Currently, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé is Haiti's only ruler. He was appointed by a transitional council that stepped down in February.
Haitian officials first said elections would be in late August, with a runoff in early December. The prime minister later said the first round would happen by the end of the year.
Many people doubt this will happen because of ongoing gang violence. Decollines said leaders need to make sure it's safe for campaigning and voting.
Last year, over 5,900 people were killed in Haiti. More than 2,700 were injured, according to U.N. data.
Gang violence has also forced 1.4 million people from their homes. Armed groups control about 90% of Port-au-Prince, the capital.
Dalouce Désir, an EDE member, acknowledged the insecurity. But he stressed that an election must happen. He said, "We believe in the election, and we believe in democracy."
Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council will announce the final list of approved parties by March 26. The council has not yet explained how it will decide which parties can participate.
