Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council has decided to dismiss the prime minister, who has been in office for only five months, according to the official journal which will be published on Monday, a copy of which AFP obtained on Sunday. Garry Conille was appointed at the beginning of June to try to stabilize the country which continues to sink into chaos, particularly due to gang violence. He will be replaced by Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.
The decision to dismiss Garry Conille from his position comes after weeks of conflict between the leader and the transition council. The council wanted to change the heads of the ministries of Justice, Finance, Defense and Health, against the advice of the prime minister, according to the newspaper Miami Herald. The Prime Minister assures that “the resolution of the Presidential Transitional Council (…) is clearly tainted by illegality”, in an email addressed to a person responsible for the publication of the official journal, to which AFP had access.
Chronic instability
Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades. But in recent months, this Caribbean country has also had to face a resurgence of gang violence, which controls 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince.
After the resignation of controversial Prime Minister Ariel Henry in April, transitional authorities were put in place, with the difficult mission of restoring security and organizing elections, in a country ravaged by violence and corruption, and which has not had a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
In September during a visit to Haiti, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken called on the transitional authorities to move quickly towards elections. The last elections date back to 2016.
Already an experience of power
A 58-year-old doctor who was already Prime Minister of Haiti for six months between 2011 and 2012, Garry Conille was appointed by this Presidential Transitional Council. In July, he had to be evacuated from a neighborhood in the capital Port-au-Prince where gang members had opened fire.
The gangs that rule much of the capital are accused of numerous murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings for ransom, a situation which worsened earlier this year, when they decided to join forces to overthrow the much-disputed former prime minister Ariel Henry.
The situation has continued to worsen despite the establishment of the multinational police support mission. Supported by the UN and the United States, this mission led by Kenya began to deploy this summer with a little more than 400 men so far.
On Thursday, the United Nations warned of worsening hunger levels in the country. The wave of violence and a catastrophic humanitarian situation have forced more than 700,000 people, half of them children, to flee their homes to find refuge elsewhere in the country, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
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