Haiti’s government on Tuesday formally appointed Ariel Henri as prime minister, nearly two weeks after President Jovenel Moise was killed in an assassination plot that likely extended far beyond the borders of the Caribbean country. was.
Henry assumed the role of de facto leader of the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere at a ceremony in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where he began his inaugural address with a minute’s silence for the slain president.
Haiti is grappling with anarchy driven by violent gangs and Henry said he wants to create conditions for as many people as possible to vote in the election, currently scheduled for September.
“It is time for unity and stability,” Henry said.
He called for continued international support for the government, which has received billions in aid since the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Outgoing former prime minister Claude Joseph said Henry’s appointment was intended to facilitate elections, which were last held in 2016. He also warned of a difficult task ahead.
“You have inherited an extraordinary situation characterized by the absence of a president to act as your shield, a political crisis unprecedented in the country’s history, galloping insecurity, a gloomy and precarious economic situation,” Joseph said.
Both Henry and Joseph stressed that the government needed to work to restore order and security, as well as strengthen an economy ravaged by the crime and coronavirus pandemic.
The ceremony took place on Tuesday as official memorial services began for Moises, who was killed by a group of more than 20 Colombian mercenaries at his private residence in Port-au-Prince on July 7.
The leader’s own security chief, some Haitian police officers and a couple of Haitian-Americans have been taken into custody on suspicion of involvement in a plot to assassinate the president.
Moise’s assassination shook an already fragile political system, while the focus is on weak security institutions bolstered by powerful gangs who, like the feudal lords of Haiti, control.
Moises was tapped as the new prime minister a few days before the assassination of Henry, a 71-year-old neurosurgeon, but was not then formally sworn in.
Joseph held the position of prime minister shortly after the assassination, despite criticism from domestic political opponents who accused him of reckless power grab. Joseph has returned to his previous job as foreign minister, just as many other ministers are expected to keep their old portfolios for now.
Moises’ wife, Marine Moises, who was also shot, returned to Haiti over the weekend after having treated her wounds in a Miami hospital.