Protesters clash with Haitian police on Sunday in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo: AFP

Haitian authorities said Sunday they had foiled an attempt to murder President Jovenel Moise and overthrow the government, as a dispute rages over when his term ends. 

The plot was an "attempted coup d'etat," according to Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent, with authorities saying at least 23 people have been arrested, including a top judge and an official from the national police.

"I thank my head of security at the palace. The goal of these people was to make an attempt on my life," Moise said. 

"That plan was aborted," he added, speaking on the tarmac at Port-au-Prince airport, accompanied by his wife and Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe.

Jouthe said plotters had contacted police officers at the presidential palace who were planning to arrest Moise and then help install a "transition" president.

Leon Charles, director of Haiti's national police force, said officers had seized documents, cash and several weapons.

Jouthe added that among the documents was a speech from the judge who had planned on becoming interim leader in a transition government. But political opposition figures dismissed claims that a coup had been attempted.

"You don't carry out a coup with two pistols and three or four rifles," lawyer Andre Michel told AFP.

He added that Moise could not claim to have suffered a coup attempt because his presidential term had expired. 

Moise has been governing without any checks on his power for the past year and says he remains president until February 7, 2022 - in an interpretation of the constitution rejected by the opposition, which has led protests asserting that his term ended Sunday.

AFP