General elections were held in Haiti on 17 January 1988,^[1] after the 1987 general election had been cancelled due to an election day massacre of voters either orchestrated or condoned by the Haitian military.^[2] The elections were boycotted by most candidates who had contested the previous elections, and while the official voter turnout figure was stated to be around 35%, observers and foreign officials estimated it to be no more than 10%,^[3] with some putting it at lower than 4%.^[2]

The official results were made public on 24 January, and it was a victory for Leslie Manigat of the Rally of Progressive National Democrats.^[4] However, six months later, he was removed from office in a military coup on 20 June.^[2]