 For more videos on People's Struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Protests in Haiti have intensified as Jovenel Moise, in violation of the country's constitution, has refused to step down. Opposition political parties and social organizations have been mobilizing in the country since early January against moves by the president to extend his time in office. According to the opposition, Moise's mandate as president ended on February 7th, 2021. They argue that Article 134-2 of the constitution provides for an early start of a new presidential term if there were irregularities in the electoral process. This claim was backed up by Haiti Superior Council of the Judiciary, which on February 7th announced the official end of Moise's presidential term and expressed concerns about the serious threats resulting from a lack of a political agreement regarding the presidential mandate's expiration. The Federation of Haitian Lawyers also issued a resolution on February 1st, declaring that Moise's mandate was set to expire on February 7th, 2021. However, Moise, who is backed by the country's armed forces, the United States government, the European Union, and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, has refused to step down. On Sunday, the day his mandate was set to end, Moise stated in a video address, I have 364 days left in power. There will be no transition. He has argued that an interim government occupied the first year of his five-year term. Despite this, the opposition remains adamant. Massive protests were carried out on February 7th and have continued till today. These have been met with violent repression by Haitian security forces while major cities in the country have been militarized. Reports state that police attacked several journalists throughout the protests. On February 8th, Haitian opposition political parties and social organizations declared that the term of the president, Jovenel Moise, ended on February 7th and appointed Supreme Court Judge Joseph Jean-Louis as the interim president. This came right after the president alleged that there was a coup attempt on Sunday to install another Supreme Court judge as the president. 23 people were arrested in relation to this, including the Supreme Court judge and a senior police official. Moise also issued a decree dismissing three Supreme Court judges. The repression and persecution of Haiti's opposition has been widely condemned. Lawyer André Michel, leader of the Opposition Democratic and Popular Sector Party, denounced the illegal arrests as a true systematic repression and said that democracy is threatened and the rule of law is endangering the country. Michel called on the citizens to continue demonstrating against Moise until he and his far-right Haitian type-care party leave office. Haitian democracy has long been under threat under the watchful eye and support of the United States government. Since January 2020, Moise has been ruling by presidential decree as the mandates of the members of parliament expired without legislative elections being held. They were scheduled for October 2019, but were postponed due to a wave of anti-government protests. Haiti currently only has 11 elected officials in office. Protests are set to continue in Haiti as Moise sends the country deeper into crisis. Existing concerns of citizens over increasing corruption, hunger, inequality, poverty and violence have brought the population to the brink and they demand immediate changes.