Haiti prime minister resigns after deadly unrest

EMBATTLED Haiti Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned on Saturday following deadly violence and looting sparked by a now abandoned plan to raise fuel prices, triggering a fraught process to form a new government.

“I submitted my resignation to the president of the republic,” who has “accepted my resignation,” he said.

Lafontant had faced a potential vote of no confidence had he not resigned – something he had previously insisted he would not do.

Last week, the government in the impoverished Caribbean country announced plans for major fuel price hikes – 38 percent for petrol, 47 percent for diesel and 51 percent for kerosene.

The announcement sparked mass protests, with streets in the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities blocked with barricades of debris and burning tyres.

Dozens of shops were looted and burned and cars were set ablaze. At least four people were killed. The government quickly did an about-face and called off the planned increases.

Lafontant, a physician who had little political experience before taking office in February 2017, had faced widespread criticism even before the spasm of violence.

Hours after Lafontant announced his resignation, President Jovenel Moise appeared on television to deliver a short speech, saying he wished to “gather all the forces of the nation, without losing any time, to form an inclusive government with the aim of alleviating the people’s misery and develop agriculture, energy and infrastructure”.

The head of state added that while he understood many were suffering from unemployment and hunger, “violence is not compatible with either development or democracy”.

Moise will now have to appoint a new prime minister – a delicate political exercise in Haiti, where a new government’s general policy plan must be approved by both houses of parliament before it can begin working.

Several hundred protesters marched on Saturday in Port-au-Prince demanding the departure not just of Lafontant, but also of Moise.

“It’s not just a question of changing the prime minister, because day by day the people are still suffering from more misery, unemployment, insecurity, hunger,” said Fleurette Pierre.

In February, Haiti signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the Washington-based global crisis lender, in which the country committed to carrying out economic and structural reforms to promote growth.

In return, IMF member countries would provide more financial assistance to Haiti.