Haiti elects new prime minister

This is not a job for the faint of heart. The transition council governing crisis-ridden Haiti has selected former Prime Minister Gary Conille to lead the country until new elections can be held.

Conille, who was briefly Prime Minister in 2012, will take over Ariel Hendrikwho resigned in March after being unable to enter the country following a trip abroad to receive international help in the fight against Haiti’s powerful gangs.

The task ahead is daunting. Violence has plunged the country into a near-failed state since the president’s assassination Jovenel Moise in 2021. Gangs control more than 80% of the capital, while more than 360,000 people have been driven from their homes by clashes between gangs, vigilantes and overmatched police, and nearly half of the island’s 11 million residents sight acute hunger.

This is a UN-backed international police mission led by Kenya prepare for deployment to Haiti in an attempt to reassert government control ahead of new elections due in February 2026. It will be no small miracle if Conille remains in power for so long.

What lies behind Haiti’s chronic instability? See us pitifully timeless explainer here.