The Montana Accord coalition took a decisive step on January 31, 2022, electing former central bank governor Fritz Jean as transitional president and Steven Benoît as prime minister in a process the group argued represented the most legitimate path to Haitian democratic recovery. The election, conducted within the framework of the August 2021 Montana Accord, was the most concrete action yet by the broad civil society and political coalition that had challenged Ariel Henry’s government since the assassination of President Moïse.
The Montana Group argued that Fritz Jean, as a technocratic figure with economic credibility and no direct association with the political failures that had produced Haiti’s crisis, was precisely the kind of transitional leader who could build the broad consensus needed to organize credible elections. His background at the central bank gave him economic expertise that would be essential for any recovery effort.
Neither the Henry government nor the international community recognized the Montana Group election, maintaining their support for Henry as the legitimate head of government. The Core Group of ambassadors reiterated their position that Henry should remain in power and focus on organizing elections, dismissing the Montana accord process as a parallel and illegitimate political structure.
The international rejection of the Montana accord election was deeply frustrating to Haitian civil society organizations that had invested significant effort in building the coalition. They argued that the international community’s insistence on supporting Henry despite his lack of constitutional legitimacy and the allegations linking him to the assassination investigation represented a failure of international commitment to genuine Haitian democratic self-determination.