From March 7 to Saturday, June 7, 2025, the Presidential Council only held two Council of Ministers meetings.
From March 7 to Saturday, June 7, 2025, the Presidential Council held only two Council of Ministers meetings. Why? Because "the Council of Ministers must address structural problems to change the country... not to appoint incompetent directors general... I said no to hundreds of diplomatic appointments..." Fritz Alphonse Jean, coordinator of the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), told Le Nouvelliste.
After more than 13 months of stability and mutual complacency, it appears that a rift is emerging between members of the Haitian executive. Since his arrival at the head of the CPT, Fritz Alphonse Jean has held only two Council of Ministers meetings. Although Le Nouvelliste has learned that the CPT coordinator is having a very difficult time organizing a Council of Ministers meeting, Mr. Jean, in an exclusive interview with Le Nouvelliste on Saturday, June 7, maintains that it was he who decided not to hold a Council of Ministers meeting.
"We have no difficulty organizing a Council of Ministers. As the CPT coordinator, I have said that the Council of Ministers is not a matter of appointing incompetent directors general," Fritz Alphonse Jean fulminated in this telephone interview with Le Nouvelliste.
According to Fritz Alphonse Jean, "the Council of Ministers must address structural problems to change the country..."
"I do not agree with a series of decisions made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Decisions that shame us before the international community. They have appointed hundreds of unqualified people to the diplomatic service. A situation that has consequences for the Republic," criticized the CPT coordinator.
Fritz Alphonse Jean told Le Nouvelliste that he had repeatedly refused these appointments. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs overruled him. The CPT coordinator cited a decision by the Chancellery that, according to him, tarnishes the country's image, while refraining from revealing this decision. However, he denounced the fact that several of the country's embassies abroad have staff far exceeding their capacity.
"They appointed around fifty people to embassies that can only accommodate 10 or 15 people. The staff works in shifts in these embassies. I said no to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. But he did it. We can't repeat the same stupid things that were done before," Fritz Alphonse Jean declared.
The CPT coordinator told the newspaper that he requested the list of people appointed to the country's embassies and diplomatic missions abroad and noted these excessive appointments.
The newspaper contacted Harvel Jean-Baptiste, Minister of Foreign Affairs, about these denunciations by the CPT coordinator, but to no avail.
Le Nouvelliste has learned that members of the Presidential Council are involved in these appointments to embassies and diplomatic missions. When asked about this information, Fritz Alphonse Jean simply pointed out that the list of appointments is on social media, along with the references.
Faced with this situation, the CPT coordinator suggests that it is he who decides not to organize Cabinet meetings.
Le Nouvelliste contacted another member of the CPT to get another perspective on the waves of appointments to the country's embassies abroad and the situation of the Presidential Council.
Regarding the hundreds of appointments to embassies, a presidential advisor told Le Nouvelliste: "I'm not aware of them. It's true that Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and certain members of the CPT, such as Gérald Giles and Smith Augustin, have alone referred more than 90% of the appointees..."
"I'm not too well-versed in the subject," added the presidential advisor, however, on condition of anonymity.
Le Nouvelliste attempted in vain to contact Presidential Advisor Louis Gérald Gilles regarding these accusations.
For his part, Presidential Advisor Smith Augustin told Le Nouvelliste that he would not respond to an anonymous accusation.
Our source at the CPT told the newspaper that in recent months, the Presidential Council has not only been having difficulty organizing Cabinet meetings but also making decisions.
"Decision-making is indeed a bit complicated at the moment... it's as if the CPT were divided into four groups: Group 1 with Laurent St-Cyr, Louis Gérald Gilles, Smith Augustin, and Emmanuel Vertilaire, plus the Prime Minister; Group 2 with Fritz Jean and Leslie Voltaire; in Group 3, there is Edgard Leblanc Fils alone, who is acting as a qualitative minority, and in Group 4, there are the two observers," our source explained.
Our contact at the CPT pointed out that "since the beginning of Fritz Jean's presidency, only two meetings of the Council of Ministers have been organised so far, while the advisor is due to leave the head of the CPT on 7 August..."
According the N
