A transitional council tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime minister and Cabinet was on Friday established in a move supporters hope will help quell turmoil in the troubled Caribbean country where most of the capital remains under the grip of criminal gangs.
The formation of the council, announced in a decree published in a Haitian government gazette, was expected to soon trigger the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, but a new provision said he would step down when a new premier is chosen.
Henry did not immediately comment on the matter.
Photo: Reuters
Those awarded a seat on the council are Petit Desalin, a party led by former Haitian senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moise; EDE/RED, a party led by former Haitian prime minister Claude Joseph; the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders, political parties and others; Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide; the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former Haitian president Michel Martelly; and the private sector.
The two non-voting seats are to represented by someone from Haiti’s civil society and its religious sector.
“The establishment of the … politically inclusive council signals the possibility of a new beginning for Haiti,” regional trade bloc CARICOM, which helped form the council, said in a statement.
It said that the council “will take the troubled country through elections to the restoration of the lapsed state institutions and constitutional government.”
“It is also clear that one of the first priorities of the newly installed Presidential Council will be to urgently address the security situation so that Haitians can go about their daily lives in a normal manner; safely access food, water and medical services; children can return to school; women can move around without fear of horrific abuses; and so that businesses can reopen,” CARICOM said.
Carl-Henry Joseph, a 42-year-old street vendor, said he heard that the council was established thanks to a small radio he balances atop loaves of bread he sells out of a wheelbarrow.
“I’m not going to call it comforting news. There are still gunshots,” he said. “I don’t know if the council will be able to solve Haiti’s problems.”
Yet Joseph said he was trying to remain optimistic, adding: “For now, that’s all we have.”
The published decree acknowledged what it called “a multidimensional crisis” that has worsened since the July 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise.
It said the crisis has led to a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” and that Haiti is experiencing “unprecedented institutional dysfunction, which has led to a political impasse.”
It also noted that Henry would present his resignation once a new prime minister is appointed.
The decree, which was signed by Henry and his Cabinet, said that no one can be a member of the council if they have been sanctioned by the UN, oppose the deployment of a foreign armed force or plan to run in the next general election, among other conditions.
While an election date has not been set, the decree stated that the president-elect must be sworn-in on Feb. 7, 2026, at the latest, and that the council would exercise presidential powers until then.
The council would also be responsible for helping set the agenda of a new Cabinet and would appoint members to form a provisional electoral council, which is needed before elections are held. It also would establish a national security council whose responsibilities have not been decided.
The decree does not set any deadlines for choosing a new prime minister or Cabinet, stating only that the council must do so “quickly.”
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to