By Beyza Binnur Donmez
ANKARA (AA) – Haitian authorities announced Sunday that more than 20 people have been arrested for trying to assassinate the president and overthrow his government.
"We have arrested 23 people for conspiracy against the state," Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent said. A top judge and a national police official are among those held.
The announcement came as a dispute over President Jovenel Moise's term continues. Opposition leaders have called for his resignation, saying his tenure is over.
"My Administration received from the Haitian people a constitutional mandate of 60 months. We have exhausted 48 of them. The next 12 months will be devoted to reforming the energy sector, carrying out the referendum, and organizing elections," the president said in a tweet.
A presidential term in the Caribbean country lasts five years. Moise was elected in a run-off vote in 2016, but couldn't swear in until 2017 due to an electoral crisis.
Moise is ruling by decree for more than a year as his administration failed to approve an electoral law last year necessary for holding parliamentary elections.
