Haiti’s leader resigns amid growing violence
Politicians rush to create a new government
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian political leaders are scrambling to meet a 24-hour deadline to establish a transitional council to lead the deteriorating country after the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Meanwhile, the deployment of a UN-approved, Kenya-led security force to Haiti has been put on hold until a new government has been put in place, Korir Sing’oei, Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs, told the BBC and AFP.
Facing intense pressure from the international community, including US officials, Henry announced late Monday that he would step down to make way for a transitional presidential council that will appoint a new interim prime minister and lead the country to new elections. His resignation followed a lengthy meeting in Jamaica among Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders, Haitian politicians, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other world leaders aimed at reaching an urgent agreement to bring political stability to a country of almost 12 million consumed by its worst violence in decades.
The council will temporarily carry out the duties of the country’s president, a position that has been vacant since the stillunsolved 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The new transitional council will be composed of seven voting members representing seven sectors of Haitian society, including Henry’s political party. It will also include two nonvoting members, from civil society and the interfaith community, according to a statement from the Caricom regional bloc.
US officials say the goal is to name a replacement prime minister as quickly as possible. But it is unclear how soon the transitional government will be in place, and whether the new leadership will be able to quell the violent gangs that control an estimated 80 percent of the country’s capital.
For more than a week, Haiti’s all-powerful gangs have terrorized Port-au-Prince, attacking the airport, port, government buildings, and at least a dozen of the city’s police stations. The United States this week airlifted much of its embassy staff out of the country as the crisis deepened. Henry was unable to return to his own country, with the airport shuttered and the neighboring Dominican Republic refusing to allow the prime minister to land on its soil.
Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, also known as “Barbecue,” had threatened civil war unless Henry resigned. On Monday, before the announcement of Henry’s resignation, Chérizier said his coalition of gangs would not accept the new presidential council either, and he threatened to attack hotels where “the traditional politicians” typically stay. He said a new government should be chosen by his coalition of gangs and “the Haitian people.”
While the United States initially supported Henry remaining in power to help create the council, Henry had shown an unwillingness to hand over power in recent weeks. Washington reversed course, urging him to step down to make way for a transitional council and new prime minister.
The council will exclude any individuals who are under indictment or UN sanctions, or anyone who has been convicted of a crime, according to the Caricom agreement. Those who oppose the Kenyan-led security mission to Haiti will also be barred from participating.