Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise has named his seventh prime minister since coming to office in 2017.
“I have appointed citizen Ariel Henry to the post of Prime Minister. He will have to form a government of openness including the vital forces of the nation, solve the glaring problem of insecurity and support the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) for the realisation of the general elections and the referendum,” Moïse said.
Henry replaces Claude Joseph, who was appointed in April this year, two months after Moïse began ruling by executive order after the terms of most members of Parliament expired.
Moïse had unsuccessfully spent a year trying to get two different prime ministers through Parliament after the Lower Chamber of Deputies fired Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant on March 18, 2020.
Haiti is facing a constitutional crisis with many Haitians saying they no longer recognise Moïse because they believe his term expired on February 7 under the current constitution.
In a statement, Henry said that in his political life “loyalty, fidelity, respect for those who have anchored currents of thought in history, have been a compass for me, just like the meaning of the state”.
Outgoing prime minister Joseph said that he wanted to congratulate Henry for having obtained the confidence of the President of the Republic.
COMMENTS