A team to choose Haiti's next leader takes shape as gang violence engulfs the Caribbean nation
Caribbean leaders said Tuesday that all groups and political parties except one have submitted nominees for a transitional presidential council charged with selecting an interim prime minister for Haiti, which remains engulfed in gang violence.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Caribbean leaders said Tuesday that all groups and political parties except one have submitted nominees for a transitional presidential council charged with selecting an interim prime minister for Haiti, which remains engulfed in gang violence.
The original nine-member council was whittled down to eight members after the Pitit Desalin party, led by former senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moïse, declined a seat last week. Moïse is allied with Guy Philippe, a former police official and rebel leader who served time in the U.S. after pleading guilty to money laundering.
The Dec. 21 group, which is allied with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, was one of the last holdouts, submitting a name Monday to the regional trade group known as Caricom. Its nomination had been delayed by infighting as group leaders bickered over potential candidates.
Henry, who remains locked out of Haiti because ongoing violence has forced the closure of its main international airport, has promised to resign once the transitional council is created. He was on an official trip to Kenya pushing for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country to fight gangs in Haiti when armed gunmen launched attacks on Feb. 29 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, that are still ongoing. The deployment has been delayed.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Tuesday that “Kenya has concerns about the makeup of the government on the ground.”
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