A transitionary council created to reestablish democratic order in Haiti has signed a decree removing interim Prime Minister Garry Conille and replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a businessman who was previously considered for the job.
The nine-member council's decision – dated for publication on Monday 11 November – seeks to push out Garry Conille after just five months in office and replace him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
The bulletin says the council agreed by consensus on 8 November to remove Conille – a former UN official and academic who was named in May to lead the country as it confronts soaring gang violence and long-standing political instability.
58-year-old Conille reportedly sent a letter to the transitional council asking for the decision not to be officially published.
Power struggle
The two sides have reportedly been locked in a power struggle for weeks, with the council wanting to change the ministers of justice, finance, defence and health against the prime minister's wishes.
And Conille sent the council a letter this week seeking the resignation of three of its members accused of corruption.
It is not immediately clear if the council – whose members represent various political and civil society groups – even has the power to dismiss Conille.
As the newly created council is not mentioned in the constitution and it was not approved by parliament because Haiti does not have a sitting legislature.
The country has not held elections since 2016, widening a political vacuum that has worsened existing security and health crises.
The country has long been over-run by gang violence, but conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in the capital Port-au-Prince, saying they wanted to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry.
Unelected and unpopular, Henry stepped down amid the violence, handing power to the transitional council, which has US and regional backing.
Killings, kidnappings and sexual violence
Despite the arrival of a Kenyan-led police support mission, gang violence has continued to soar in Haiti.
The United Nations reported late last month that over 1,200 people were killed from July through September, with persistent kidnappings and sexual violence against women and girls.
Gangs in recent years have taken over about 80 percent of the capital as any semblance of governance evaporated.
The United Nations report also said these powerful gangs are digging trenches, using drones and stockpiling weapons as they change tactics to confront the Kenyan-led police force.
Gang leaders have strengthened defences around the zones they control and placed gas cylinders and Molotov cocktail ready to use against police operations.
According to the International Organization for Migration than 700,000 people – half of them children – have fled their homes because of the gang violence.
