Haiti’s transitional council has nominated Fritz Belizaire as the new prime minister of the crisis-ridden Caribbean country.
The council on Tuesday tapped the former sports minister to take over from interim prime minister Michel Patrick Boisvert. The previously low-profile new premier faces a daunting task of trying to stabilise the island nation, which is mired in chaos as it battles violent armed gangs that have taken control of many areas.
The council had earlier named Edgard Leblanc Fils, a former senate president, as president of the panel. The appointments follow weeks of political deadlock and in-fighting on the council, which was convened last month after former Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned.
Belizaire’s nomination was supported by four of the seven voting members on the nine-member panel. Other members noted that they were unfamiliar with him.
The council is also tasked with appointing a cabinet and an electoral council, which should pave the way for Haiti’s first general elections since 2016.
However, internal squabbles on the panel have delayed the process. Tensions concerning Tuesday’s selections are reported to be threatening to dissolve the council.
“This is a very good choice for prime minister,” Fils said of Belizaire according to AP. “The important thing for us is this will, this determination to go beyond divisions, to overcome conflicts and to reach a consensus.”
Violence continues
Gunfire was heard across the capital Port-au-Prince during the council meeting, illustrating the challenge the new prime minister faces to end the chaotic violence plaguing Haiti.
Some 4,000 inmates were released in raids on Haiti’s two biggest prisons in February. Amid an orgy of violence, the gangs have since wrested control from authorities in many areas and attacked infrastructure.
More than 2,500 people were killed or injured across Haiti from January to March, according to the United Nations. Nearly 95,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince. People are struggling to find food and access healthcare with Haiti’s ports and airport closed.
“The Haitian population can no longer wait,” Louis Gerald Gilles, a member of the transitional council who supported Belizaire’s appointment, told AP. “The security issue is essential for societal calm.”
<<Aljazeera>>
