Elections in Haiti will take place when the security situation improves, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said in a national address on Wednesday evening, Ednews reports the following citing CNN.

Anti-government protesters angered by the gang violence sweeping the country and deepening levels of poverty have been calling on Henry to step down and for general elections to be held

But Henry said Wednesday he could not step down as prime minister because the government needed first to ensure conditions were safe enough to stage an election.

Haiti has been facing escalating violence, with killings and rapes being reported across the country. It is also struggling with warring gangs, poverty and displacement.

“I think the time has arrived for all to put our heads together to save Haiti, to do things another way in our country,” Henry said.

From October through December of last year, 2,327 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in Haiti, an eight percent increase over the third quarter of 2023, according to a report from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BIUH).