Havana, May 29, (dpa/GNA) – Haiti’s transitional presidential council elected UNICEF regional director Garry Conille as interim prime minister to lead the Caribbean state out of the serious political crisis.
The council unanimously elected Conille on Tuesday, announced council president Edgard Leblanc Fils on social media platform X.
Conille served as Haiti’s prime minister from September 2011 to May 2012.
Amidst a serious crisis involving political conflicts, security, and supply problems, Conille is tasked with paving the way for the first elections since 2016.
Violence by armed gangs, which according to UN figures already controlled around 80% of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, escalated once again at the end of February.
Former interim prime minister Ariel Henry, who did not return from a trip abroad at the end of February due to the security situation in Haiti, resigned in April when the council was in place. Henry took over the reins of government shortly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.
According to the council’s plan, Haiti should have a new president by February 7, 2026.
More than 360,000 people in Haiti have been forced to leave their homes due to the crisis and are considered displaced persons in their own country. The already acute hunger crisis has worsened.