February 7, 2021 — the date the opposition and the Supreme Court said Moïse’s term ended — passed in Haiti with the president firmly in power, flanked by international support, and having just announced the arrest of alleged coup plotters. Opposition groups that had declared the day would mark the end of the Moïse presidency found themselves without the leverage to make that declaration a reality.
Demonstrations took place across Port-au-Prince and in other cities, with protesters marking what they called the end of Moïse’s legitimacy. Security forces deployed in significant numbers, and several confrontations between protesters and police resulted in injuries. The atmosphere was tense but the expected large-scale uprising did not materialize.
The international community’s decision to support Moïse’s interpretation of the constitutional timeline was decisive in preventing the opposition’s scenario from unfolding. With the United States, the Core Group, and the OAS backing the government’s position, opposition claims to constitutional legitimacy lacked the external validation that might have given them more practical weight.
Political analysts noted that the February 7 confrontation, while not producing the regime change the opposition sought, had further polarized an already divided political landscape. The government’s use of mass arrests to suppress opposition on the very day its opponents declared the presidency ended marked a sharp step toward more authoritarian governance that would define the remaining months of Moïse’s life.