Haitian council names a new prime minister in the hope of quelling stifling violence
Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose former Sports Minister Fritz Bélizaire as the Caribbean country’s prime minister Tuesday.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose former Sports Minister Fritz Bélizaire as the Caribbean country’s prime minister Tuesday as it presses forward in its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence.
Bélizaire replaces Michel Patrick Boisvert, the former minister of economy and finance who was the current interim prime minister. Bélizaire is little known and even some members of the council said they were unfamiliar with him.
The nine-member transitional council, seven of whom have voting rights, was choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet in a bid to help quell gang violence that is choking the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond. Bélizaire had the support of four of the council’s voting members.
Heavy gunfire was reported in several neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, including near the National Palace, although it wasn’t immediately clear if it was in response to the unexpected announcement of a new prime minister.
More than 90,000 people have fled the capital in the span of one month, and overall, more than 360,000 people have been left homeless in recent years as gunmen raze communities in rival territories.
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