PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s newly installed transitional council chose a little-known former sports minister as the Caribbean country’s prime minister on Tuesday as part of its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid suffocating violence.
Fritz Bélizaire was chosen in a surprise move to replace current interim Prime Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, winning the support of four of the seven voting members on the nine-member panel, but with other panel members saying they were unfamiliar with Bélizaire.
The council also planned to choose a Cabinet as it seeks to crack down on the gang violence that is choking the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond. Heavy gunfire was reported in several neighborhoods across the capital during the council meeting.
More than 90,000 people have fled the capital in the space of a month and, in total, more than 360,000 people have been displaced in recent years as gunmen level communities in rival territories.
On Tuesday morning, the board chose former presidential candidate Edgard Leblanc Fils as the panel’s chairman.
“This is a very good choice for prime minister,” Fils said of Bélizaire during a brief speech to nearly two dozen attendees. “The important thing for us is this will, this determination to go beyond divisions, to overcome conflicts and to reach a consensus.”
He said the council met Monday with army and police officials to talk about Haiti’s security crisis and how best to resolve it. “We are publicly acknowledging the suffering,” he said of the population.
Bélizaire’s announcement was unexpected. A murmur arose among attendees when authorities 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.
“He’s kind of an unknown figure,” said Robert Fatton, an expert on Haitian politics at the University of Virginia. “He doesn’t seem to have his own constituency. Maybe that made him the likely prime minister, so different parties could accept him as prime minister.”
Council member Louis Gérald Gilles, who supported Bélizaire, told the Associated Press that the council wanted to move quickly in choosing a prime minister. “The Haitian population can no longer wait,” he said. “The issue of security is essential for social calm.”
Hours later, many ordinary Haitians remained in the dark.
“They chose a new prime minister?” Jean-Paul Eliason said as he walked the streets of Port-au-Prince ringing a bell to advertise his shoeshine business.
When told about Bélizaire, 70-year-old Eliason said her name sounded familiar.
“It is good news because perhaps the country can embark on the right path,” he said. “Safety, this is a priority. People are running away and gangs are burning down their homes.”
Sony Duvert, who leaned on his motorcycle parked near a makeshift barrier meant to protect his neighborhood from gangs, said he had never heard of the new prime minister and hoped he would make Haiti safer.
“Every day we post here like soldiers,” he said. “I would love to see a big change for Haiti.”
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 included Fils, the new president of the council, Smith Augustin, Gilles and Emmanuel Vertilaire.
Fatton called them an “unlikely” alliance: “We’ll see if it can last.”
Fils represents the political group 30 de Janeiro, which is made up of parties such as PHTK, whose members include former president Michel Martelly and assassinated president Jovenel Moïse. Meanwhile, Augustin represents the political party EDE/RED, founded by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph.
Gilles represents the December 21 agreement, which is associated with former prime minister Ariel Henry, who resigned weeks after the gang attacks began. Meanwhile, Vertilaire is linked to the Pitit Desalin party, led by powerful politician Jean-Charles Moïse, who celebrated Tuesday’s announcement.
“He is someone very important in the country,” Moïse said of Bélizaire. “He knows the state very well – he knows how to govern.”
The transition council will act as the country’s presidency until it manages to organize a presidential election some time before it is dissolved, which is expected to 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 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,” Fatton said.
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.
Henry, the former prime minister, was on an official trip to the East African country when the coordinated gang attacks began and remains excluded from Haiti. He submitted his resignation last week.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
