Haiti PM resigns

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned from the unelected role he has held since the 2021 assassination of the country’s last president, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Irfaan Ali announced late Monday.

“We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming an interim prime minister,” said Ali, Guyana’s President, as he thanked the 74-year-old neurosurgeon for his service to the French-speaking CARICOM nation.

Ali said the council would have two observers and seven voting members, including representatives from several coalitions, the private sector, civil society and one religious leader. It has been mandated to “swiftly” appoint an interim prime minister, he added, and anyone who intends to run in Haiti’s next elections will not be able to participate.

“The transitional presidential council will undertake the following: appoint an inclusive council of ministers, . . . sign off on the agenda of the Council of Ministers, set the essential criteria for the selection of an impartial provisional electoral council and establish a provisional electoral council, make arrangements for a peaceful transition, ensure continuity of governance, and establish a National Security Council,” Ali said.
“It is agreed that the implementation of these measures will be concluded in Parliament. The parties also make specific individual commitments regarding principles of inclusion, integrity, restoration of peace and orderly transition of power.”

Henry had travelled to Kenya late last month to secure its leadership of a United Nations-backed international security mission to help police fight armed gangs, but a drastic escalation of violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, during his absence left him stranded in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

Earlier in the day, CARICOM said it was optimistic that a solution to the Haitian crisis could emerge sooner rather than later, as there appeared to be consensus for an initiative resulting in the formation of a presidential council.

“I think among all the stakeholders… I am very confident we have found commonality and we have found a common path through which we can support a Haitian-led solution and a Haitian-owned solution,” Ali had said as CARICOM held a one-day high-level meeting on Haiti, in Jamaica, attended by several leaders including Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

The meeting brought together “regional and international friends of Haiti”, including United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, to discuss a possible solution to the crisis that has been exacerbated by criminal gangs that have vowed to overthrow Henry’s government.

(Reuters/BT)