Transitional council in Haiti names Garry Conille as new prime minister as country remains under siege by gangs

Garry Conille was named Haiti’s new prime minister on Tuesday night, nearly a month after a coalition within a fractured transitional council chose someone else for the role.

The long-awaited change occurs when gangs continue to terrorize the capital of Port-au-Princeopening fire in once-peaceful neighborhoods and using heavy machinery to demolish several police stations and prisons.

Board member Louis Gérald Gilles told the Associated Press that six of the seven board members with voting power chose Conille on Tuesday. He said one member, Laurent St. Cyr, was not in Haiti and therefore did not vote.

Conille is UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean and previously served as Prime Minister of Haiti from October 2011 to May 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly.

According to Conille’s UNICEF page, he was appointed Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean in January 2023. He previously worked with UNICEF in Jamaica and Burundi, although he began his career with the UN in Haiti in 1999 .

He replaces Michel Patrick Boisvert, who was appointed interim prime minister after Ariel Henry resigned by letter at the end of April.

Henry was on an official trip to Kenya when a coalition of powerful gangs launched coordinated attacks on February 29, taking control of police stations, shooting at Haiti’s main international airport, and storming the country’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.

Henry was prevented from entering the country by the attacks, and the airport in the capital Port-au-Prince remained closed for almost three months.

Gang violence continues to rise in parts of Haiti’s capital and elsewhere as Conille takes command of the troubled Caribbean country, awaiting the UN-backed deployment of a police force from Kenya and other countries.

Conille studied political and health administration and helped develop health care in impoverished communities in Haiti. He worked for several years at the United Nations before Martelly appointed him prime minister in 2011. Conille resigned less than a year later after clashes with the president and his cabinet over an investigation into government officials who have dual nationality, which is not permitted by the United Nations. Constitution of Haiti.

Conille has a tough task ahead of him: quelling rampant gang violence while helping to lift Haiti out of deep poverty, with inflation reaching a record 29%, according to the latest available data. In recent years, the gangs that control at least 80% of Port-au-Prince have driven more than 360,000 people from their homes and continue to control important routes from the capital to the northern and southern regions of Haiti, often paralyzing the transport of critical goods. assets.

Conille’s selection as prime minister comes just weeks after former Haitian sports minister Fritz Bélizaire was chosen for the role in late April by a four-member coalition within the nine-member transition council, in an announcement surprise that angered many. Critics stated that proper procedure was not followed as dictated by the structure that established the council, so a new process was initiated to choose a prime minister, with dozens of names put forward for the position.

The drawn-out process has been criticized by many, including the Montana Accord, a Haitian civil society group that has a representative on the council.

In a statement released Tuesday, the group accused the council of not taking any “consequential measures” since its installation, as “the people’s suffering is getting worse, while gangs are taking control of more territory and committing more crimes.”

He also accused the council of not being transparent in choosing a new prime minister, saying it did not publicly share the criteria used or the names presented, among other things.

Liné Balthazar, president of the Tet Kale party, called on the council to be transparent in an interview Monday with Magik9, a local radio station, and said the choice of a prime minister seemed improvised.

In addition to selecting a new prime minister, the nine-member council, of which seven have voting power, must also appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can be held. The board’s non-renewable term expires on February 7, 2026, the scheduled date for the inauguration of a new president.

In addition to choosing a new prime minister, the council is also responsible for selecting a new Cabinet and holding general elections by the end of next year.

The council members are Emmanuel Vertilaire, from Petit Desalin, a party led by former senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moïse; Smith Augustin for EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; Fritz Alphonse Jean of the Montana Accord; Leslie Voltaire for Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide; Louis Gérald Gilles for the December 21 coalition supporting former Prime Minister Ariel Henry; Edgard Leblanc Fils for Coletivo 30 de Janeiro, which represents parties such as that of former president Michel Martelly; and Laurent Saint-Cyr for the private sector.