Haiti’s transitional presidential council has appointed the entrepreneur and former senate candidate Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new prime minister, according to the official gazette in the country.
The businessman replaces Garry Conille, who was named prime minister in May. The shake-up is the latest blow to political stability amid soaring levels of gang violence.
Haiti has not held democratic elections in years, and armed gangs have gained control of most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, with the violence spreading to nearby regions, fuelling hunger and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Promised international support still lags and nearby countries have deported Haitian migrants back to Haiti.
Didier Fils-Aimé is the son of the well-known Haitian activist Alix Fils-Aime, who was jailed under the regime of the dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.
Conille, a longtime civil servant who has worked with the UN, was appointed to the role in May by Haiti’s transition council to return to the role as the Caribbean country works to restore stability.
The transitional council was established in April, tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime minister and cabinet with the hope that it would help quell turmoil. But it has been plagued with political infighting, and has long been at odds with Conille.
Groups such as the Organization of American States tried unsuccessfuly last week to mediate disagreements in an attempt to save the fragile transition, according to reports in the Miami Herald.
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The process suffered another blow in October when three members of the council faced corruption accusations, from investigators alleging they demanded $750,000 in bribes from a government bank director to secure his job.
The same members accused of bribery were among those to sign the decree. Only one member, Edgard Leblanc Fils, did not sign the order.
A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Source: theguardian.com
