New Haitian prime minister pledges to hold assassins accountable, schedule elections
Three weeks after the shocking assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, the man he had tapped just days before his death to lead the government’s day-to-day affairs promised to continue to pursue those responsible for the murder and to work toward “a large political consensus” that would enable the country to carry out free and fair elections.
“We will ensure the continuation of the investigation into the harsh and heinous assassination of the President of the Republic. All sponsors, perpetrators of this murder must be brought to justice. It is a matter of state,” Prime Minister Ariel Henry said Wednesday. “All the people involved in this crime will be tracked down everywhere and brought to justice.”
Before his July 7 killing, Moïse was under pressure to hold long-overdue elections. He had been ruling by decree since January 2020. The first round of balloting for legislative and presidential elections had been targeted for Sept. 26, including a controversial referendum on a new constitution.
Now, the task has fallen to Henry, who becomes the nation’s de facto leader in the absence of a president to replace Moïse. His 17member Cabinet has come under criticism for not being inclusive enough and not being the result of a political accord. Following Wednesday’s meeting of his Council of Ministers, his Cabinet, Henry sought to assure Haitians that his government is working with all sectors of Haitian life “to remove and eliminate all irritants — everything that could stop us from quickly reaching a good political accord so that we could hold elections without any show of favoritism.”
Wednesday’s meeting took place as about 50 protesters marched through the capital to the U.S. Embassy to demand that the United States stay out of Haiti’s affairs. The protest coincided with the 106th anniversary of the 1915 U.S. occupation of Haiti, which occurred the last time a Haitian president, Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, was assassinated.
Henry, who did not address the anniversary during his brief press conference, said the mission of his government is to prepare the necessary conditions for “the organization of free, honest, transparent elections, with the broad participation of the population.”