PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A transition council charged with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates, a decision that has surprised many. gang violence consumes the country.
Instead of having a single council president, four longtime politicians will take turns leading the council every five months, according to two members who were not authorized to share the changes publicly because they had not yet been announced.
Members told The Associated Press Wednesday evening that the board would now consider a majority of five members, instead of four. The council is made up of nine members, seven of whom have the right to vote.
“This is real change,” Robert Fatton, a Haitian policy expert at the University of Virginia, said of the changes. “I think it’s a good thing that they actually share power now. … This is something very rare in Haitian politics.
The four members who will share power are the original president of the council, Edgard Leblanc Fils, ex-senator Louis Gérald Gilles, former presidential candidate Leslie Voltaire and ex-ambassador of the Dominican Republic Smith Augustin .
The changes follow internal unrest which threatened to derail the council after he was sworn in on April 25. The bickering began five days later, when four council members announced not just a council president but also a Prime Minister to the great shock of many.
However, it remains to be seen whether former Sports Minister Fritz Bélizaire will remain the chosen Prime Minister. A council member told AP he plans to make an announcement next week.
After the prime minister’s choice is announced, the council hopes to choose a new government, a process that many believe will involve long and heavy negotiations with powerful politicians.
“That’s going to be the other major problem,” Fatton warned.
The changes come as Haiti prepares for Deployment of a Kenyan police force supported by the UN to help fight against the gangs which have decimated entire sections of the capital Port-au-Prince.
On February 29, gangs launched coordinated attacks; they burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport which had remained closed since March 4 and stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 detainees. The country’s largest seaport also remains crippled due to dwindling food, medicine and other essential items.
At least 1.4 million Haitians are on the brink of famine, according to the UN World Food Program.
U.S. military planes have landed in recent days with supplies including medications and oral hydration fluids, along with civilian contractors to prepare for the arrival of foreign forces, although it is unclear when exactly Kenyan police would deploy.
A team of senior Kenyan security officials is in Washington DC this week to finalize deployment plans, including the number of police officers who will be sent.
As Haiti awaits foreign forces, gang violence has increased in recent days. They attacked several communities near downtown Port-au-Princeforcing more than 3,700 people to flee their homes.
On Tuesday, at least four people died and several others were injured when someone opened fire on a bus passing through Martissant, a gang-controlled area in southwest Port-au-Prince.
Kidnappings have also increased, with a police officer killed Wednesday morning while trying to fight off gangs trying to kidnap her, police union leader Lionel Lazarre said.
More than 2,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of the year, an increase of 50% compared to the same period last year, according to the UN.
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Associated Press journalist Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi contributed.
News Source : apnews.com
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