Haitian judge calls for end to 'dictatorship'

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A judge proposed by the opposition to serve as acting president in Haiti's latest political crisis ended days of silence Saturday by calling on people to fight against what he called a dictatorship.

The comments by the judge, Joseph Mecene Jean-Louis, were seen as a direct challenge to unpopular President Jovenel Moise, who is embroiled in a dispute over whether his term ended last weekend or he has another year in power, as he claims.

Moise has been ruling by decree for a year because there is no parliament right now. Legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed.

The issue has led to weeks of violent protests on the streets of the poor Caribbean country.

"I call on all men and women who swear loyalty to this land and nation to stand up," Jean-Louis said in a statement.

"To stand up against corruption, impunity and dictatorship, stand up for social justice and public safety."

The 72-year-old judge was proposed last weekend by several opposition parties to serve as acting president in the row surrounding Moise's term.

Moise says his term in office lasts until February 2022, but the opposition argues it should have ended last weekend, in a standoff over disputed elections.

The dispute stems from Moise's original election. He was voted into office in a poll subsequently canceled after allegations of fraud, and then elected again a year later, in 2016.