Haiti appoints a new Prime Minister to try to bring the country out of the crisis

An experienced international aid official, Garry Conille, was unanimously appointed prime minister of Haiti on Tuesday by a Transitional Presidential Council, which tasked him with leading the country out of the current crisis until elections are held for a new president.

Conille will take up his new role just as a UN-backed security mission led by Kenyan police begins operations in the violence-ravaged Caribbean nation, which is struggling to restore political stability and confront armed gangs that control much of the country. capital Port-au-Prince.

Fluent in English, French and Creole, Mr. Conille's credentials include a 25-year career working for the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies. He also briefly led Haiti as prime minister more than a decade ago during another period of crisis following the devastating 2010 earthquake.

But Conille has spent much of the past few years outside the country, and his perhaps rusty domestic political skills will surely be tested by the highly volatile situation he will encounter as prime minister.

He will not, however, face any political battle with Haiti's fractious Parliament, which has remained vacant for months due to the country's failure to hold elections amid violence and unrest.

“He's a sure bet to please the international community, but he's also spent the last twenty years working primarily outside of Haiti, in the United Nations system,” said Jake Johnston, a Haiti expert at the Center for Research economic and political.

A physician by training, he also holds a master's degree in public health from the University of North Carolina. Conille helped coordinate Haiti's reconstruction efforts after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, which the Haitian government said killed 316,000 people.

Then, in 2011, he became prime minister, but resigned just four months later after clashing with then-president Michel Martelly over a corruption investigation related to contracts to rebuild the country.

Conille, 58, succeeds Michel Patrick Boisvert, who was appointed interim prime minister after Ariel Henry resigned from the position at the end of April. Mr Henry was forced to resign after being effectively locked out of the country by gang violence that closed Port-au-Prince International Airport and prevented him from returning from a trip to Kenya to sign a deal to security supported by the United Nations. Assignment.

Kenyan police officers are expected to travel to Haiti next month on a daunting mission to help restore order in a country where more than 4,000 people have been killed or injured in gang-related violence this year alone .

U.S. military planes loaded with civilian contractors and supplies have already begun landing in Haiti, paving the way for the seven-nation security mission, funded largely with a $300 million commitment from the Biden administration.

Conille will take on the responsibility of governing the country alongside the Transitional Council, appointed to fill the void following Henry's ouster. The nine-member transition council holds some presidential powers and has been tasked with steering the country until elections are held and a new president is sworn in in early 2026.

Haiti has been without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 by gunmen who burst into his bedroom and shot him in front of his wife. His killing remains under separate investigations in Haiti and Florida, with a trial expected in Miami in January.

Five people, including two former soldiers in Colombia, have already pleaded guilty in the United States and have been sentenced to life in prison.

For the past 25 years, Conille has worked with the United Nations, serving in Africa and the Caribbean, and has also held senior positions at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Her most recent position, since January 2023, was as regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

André Paultre contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince.