Oxiliene Morency cries out in grief after the body of her 7-year-old-daughter Esther Daniel was recovered from the rubble of their home destroyed by the earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti on Saturday. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country on the day, with the epicenter about 125 kilometers west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey said. Photo: VCG

Elections and a constitutional referendum scheduled for the coming months in Haiti have been postponed indefinitely after the Monday dismissal of members of the electoral administration, plunging the country into further uncertainty.

Since their September 2020 appointment by late president Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated in July, the nine members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) have been strongly criticized by the opposition and the public.

After developing several electoral calendars, the CEP set the first round of voting in presidential and legislative elections, as well as for a constitutional referendum, for November 7.

The second round of voting was scheduled for January 23, 2022, in conjunction with municipal and local elections. But Prime Minister Ariel Henry published a decree Monday announcing the CEP members had been dismissed. He is preparing to appoint a new council but did not set a deadline for doing so.

Henry was appointed by Moise two days before the president was murdered.

Moise, who was gunned down in his home, had been ruling by decree after the 2018 legislative elections were postponed, and disputes arose over whether his term should end in February 2021 or 2022.