By: Staff Writer
June 1, 2024
A long time United Nations development expert has been selected as Haiti’s new prime minister, which is his second term as top government official in that beleaguered country,
Garry Conille, who served as Prime Minister in 2011-2012 under the Michel Martelly administration, has been selected by the transitional council in Haiti to helm the country yet again.
The earlier of selection of Fritz Bélizaire was “discarded” by the seven member transitional council and they started re-accepting submissions for the position of Prime Minister from 13–17 May, and on 27 May six of the seven members chose former prime minister Conille as his successor.
Conille says he`s honored to be chosen for this responsibility and his aim is to seek national unity. He pledges to work for a better tomorrow. Today is bleak and stark, blighted by an unholy coalition of street gangs terrorizing Haiti, especially its Capital, Port Au Prince, where mob rule holds destabilising sway. The fragile thread of governance frayed and snapped, following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise by Colombian mercenaries.
Only a month ago, Michel Patrick Boisvert had been named interim prime minister before Bélizaire and directly after Ariel Henry resigned in April due to the escalation of violence in the country. Since Feb. 29, gangs have captured airports, police stations, government ministries, prisons and other government facilities. Criminal gangs control most of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and are responsible for widespread abuses including sexual violence, murder, kidnapping and torture.
The hostilities began during the absence of Prime Minister Henry, who was visiting Kenya to finalize details for the deployment of 1,000 police officers to retake control of the Caribbean nation. He was unable to return to the country due to the attacks, and the airport in the capital was closed for almost three months.
The process of selecting a new prime minister was a rocky one, complete with false starts and controversy.
Since the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, Haiti has not held a federal election.
Henry, an unelected official chosen days before the assassination, served as acting president in Moise’s stead after his shooting death.
But Henry’s failure to call a vote to replace Moise has heightened tensions in the country. In January 2023, the last elected federal officials – 10 senators – saw their terms expire.
In the meantime, the country’s gangs sought to fill the power vacuum, asserting power over upwards of 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, including roadways in and out of the city.
The United Nations estimates more than 362,000 Haitians have been displaced by the ensuing bloodshed. During the first three months of 2024 alone, gang violence has killed more than 1,500 people and injured hundreds more.