Haiti’s transitional council appoints prime minister

A council member told AFP that Conille was elected 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon. Council President Edgard Leblanc and member Fritz Alphonse Jean also announced Conille’s selection on social media.

The move comes as Haiti desperately awaits the deployment of a Kenyan-led multinational force to regain control from powerful and violent gangs controlling parts of the capital.

The U.N.-backed security mission — which provides the United States with logistical support but not on the ground — is intended to help Haiti’s weak, under-equipped police force defeat the gangs.

Armed groups, which also control large swaths of the countryside, have long terrorized ordinary Haitians with random shootings, kidnappings and sexual violence.

The country has been plagued by poverty, natural disasters, political instability and violence for decades. It has not had a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moise in 2021 and it has no sitting parliament.

The transitional council came to power last month when Haiti’s unpopular and unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry formally resigned after armed gangs rioted demanding his ouster.

The last elections were in 2016, and the transitional council has struggled to assert its authority as food became scarce, tens of thousands fled their homes and the healthcare system teetered on the brink of collapse.

Haiti’s main airport partially reopened earlier this month after being closed since early March, when the gangs waged a coordinated rampage they say was aimed at overthrowing Henry.

The deployment of Kenyan security forces took on new urgency when it was announced last week that gang members had killed three missionaries, a Haitian couple and an American couple.

One big question mark now is how the gangs will respond to the arrival of the Kenyan-led force.

Haiti, a country of 11.6 million people, has suffered from poverty, political instability and natural disasters for decades. It is the poorest country in America.