Haiti welcomes new governing council as gang-ravaged country seeks peace

world
Haiti Welcomes New Governing Council As Gang-Ravaged Country Seeks Peace
Haiti's prime minister Ariel Henry cleared the way for the transition by presenting his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles. Photo: PA Images
Share this article

Danica Coto, Associated Press

Haiti has opened a new political chapter with the installation of a transitional council tasked to pick a new prime minister and prepare for eventual presidential elections, in hopes of quelling spiralling gang violence that has killed thousands in the Caribbean country.

Ariel Henry, the prime minister who had been locked out of the country for the past couple of months due to the violence, cleared the way for the transition by presenting his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles.

Advertisement

The document was released on Thursday in Haiti on the same day as the new transitional council was sworn in to choose a new prime minister and Cabinet.

Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry
Haiti’s prime minister Ariel Henry, right, remains locked out of the country (Sean Kilpatrick/AP)

Mr Henry’s outgoing Cabinet chose economy and finance minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as interim prime minister in the meantime.

Advertisement

It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would name its own choice for interim prime minister.

The council was officially sworn in at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince on Thursday as the pop of sporadic gunfire erupted nearby, prompting some officials to look around the room.

The council had been urged to seek a safer venue because gangs have launched daily attacks in the area.

Addressing a crowded and sweaty room in the prime minister’s office hours later in Petion-Ville, Mr Boisvert said that Haiti’s crisis had gone on too long and that the country now found itself at a crossroads.

Advertisement

“After long months of debate… a solution has been found,” Mr Boisvert said. “Today is an important day in the life of our dear republic.”

Michel Patrick Boisvert, who was named interim prime minister by the cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Haiti
Michel Patrick Boisvert attends the swearing-in ceremony of the transitional council (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

He called the transitional council a “Haitian solution” and directing his remarks toward them, Mr Boisvert wished them success, adding: “You are to lead the country to peace, to economic and social recovery, to sacred union, to participation.”

Advertisement

After the speeches, the soft clink of glasses echoed in the room as attendees served champagne flutes toasted with a sombre “to Haiti”.

The council was installed earlier on Thursday, more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emergency meeting to tackle Haiti’s spiralling crisis.

The nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, is expected to help set the agenda of a new Cabinet.

It will also appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place, and establish a national security council.

Advertisement

Gangs launched coordinated attacks that began on February 29 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas.

Haiti New Leadership
Soldiers deploy outside the Prime Minister’s office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

They burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that has remained closed since early March and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Gangs have also severed access to Haiti’s biggest port.

The onslaught began while Mr Henry was on an official visit to Kenya to push for a UN-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country.

In his resignation letter, Mr Henry said Haiti would be reborn.

“We served the nation in difficult times,” he wrote. “I sympathise with the losses and suffering endured by our compatriots during this period.”

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com