(PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti) — Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose former sports minister Fritz Belizaire as the country’s prime minister on Tuesday as it moves forward with its monumental task of trying to establish a new stable government in amid suffocating violence.
Belizaire replaces Michel Patrick Boisvert, the former Minister of Economy and Finance who was the current interim Prime Minister. Belizaire is little known and even some council members did not know him.
The nine-member transitional council, seven of whom have voting rights, was choosing a new prime minister and a new cabinet in a bid to help quell the gang violence that is choking the capital of Port-au-Prince and beyond. .
More than 90,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince in the space of a month, and overall more than 360,000 people have been left homeless in recent years as gunmen tear apart communities in rival territories.
Belizaire had the support of four voting council members.
Previously, the board chose Edgard Leblanc Fils, a former presidential candidate, as its president. “This experience proves that we are capable of negotiating,” said Fils after announcing Bélizaire as the new prime minister.
Bélizaire’s announcement came as a surprise. A murmur arose among the attendees when Fils announced that four council members with voting power had chosen Bélizaire as prime minister.
Leslie Voltaire, one of the board’s voting members, told the Associated Press, “I don’t know him,” when asked if he supported Bélizaire.
Bélizaire served as Haiti’s Sports Minister during René Préval’s second presidency, from 2006 to 2011.
After the brief announcement, made almost two hours after the event began, the council returned to speaking behind closed doors about its Cabinet choices. Voltaire, however, said he did not expect the council to announce Cabinet selections on Tuesday.
The majority supporting Bélizaire as prime minister included Fils, the new president of the council, Smith Augustin, Louis Gérald Gilles, and Emmanuel Vertilaire.
The transitional council will act as the country’s presidency until it manages to organize presidential elections some time before being dissolved, which should occur by February 2026.
Haitians remain divided over whether they believe a transitional government can help calm a troubled country whose capital has been under siege since gangs launched coordinated attacks that began on February 29.
Gang members set fire to police stations, opened fire on the main international airport, which has remained closed since early March, and stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates. The country’s largest seaport also remains largely paralyzed by gang violence.
But one thing is certain: Haitians want security. “Haitians are very impatient now. They want to see results,” said Robert Fatton, an expert on Haitian politics at the University of Virginia.
The council is expected to support the UN-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force to help combat gangs, although it is unclear when that might happen.
Former Prime Minister Ariel Henry was on an official trip to the East African country when the coordinated gang attacks began and remains barred from entering Haiti. He submitted his resignation last week.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
