Español
  Français

The Government and Political System in Haiti

You are here: Countries / Haiti

Modeled after France’s system of government, the Haiti’s government follows a pluriform multi-party system under a platform of a republic. The citizens of Haiti elect a president for a 5-year term, who acts as the head of state of the Republic of Haiti. The President of Haiti also acts as commander in chief of its armed forces. As mandated by Haiti’s 1987 constitution, a president can only serve for two consecutive terms as with the case of the incumbent, President Rene Preval. After serving two terms, a new president is expected to be at the helm of the government. The President also chooses a deputy or senator from the National Assembly from the majority party to be his Prime Minister.  The President and Prime Minister together call the shots in this Caribbean nation.

The Prime Minister, as stipulated in the constitution will act as the head of government. This means that he will be in charge of appointing the different Ministers and the Secretaries of State. More or less, the Prime Minister’s concern is national defense but what the people remember something particular about Prime Ministers are their declaration of general policies before the National Assembly just right after their confirmation as the President’s partner in running the country.

The legislative branch of Haiti consists of two chambers, the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and the Senate (upper house).  Together, both lower and upper houses constitute the National Assembly and are responsible for the ratification of new laws and amendments in the constitution.

The Chamber of Deputies consists of 99 seats. Each deputy is elected and serves a 4-year term.

The Senate on the other hand has only 30 members. Each of the 10 administrative departments of Haiti has three senators each. Every 2 years, one third of the members need to be filled up by way of elections.

The current judicial branch of Haiti is largely based under the Roman civil law system where there is a Supreme Court that can override the local and civil courts.  The US government has been helping Haiti until Year 2000 train judges and prosecutors through the auspices of the Administration of Justice Program.