Haiti PM resigns after Jamaica summit

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created.

"The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of (a transition) council," Henry said in a video address. "I'm asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible."

Regional leaders of the Caribbean Community held an emergency summit in Jamaica on Monday to discuss the framework for a political transition and provide urgent humanitarian assistance to residents.

On July 7, 2021, the then-president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated. Henry then took over as acting leader, promising to organize presidential elections.

Haiti was scheduled to hold elections before Feb 7 this year. But those elections failed to materialize, leading to social unrest.

Since late February, multiple gang organizations in Haiti have launched attacks on public facilities in the capital Port-au-Prince, demanding the resignation of the prime minister.

The conflict left the 74-year-old prime minister stranded in Puerto Rico, while regional leaders called for a swift transition.

A senior US official said Henry was free to remain in Puerto Rico or travel elsewhere, though security in Haiti would need to improve for him to feel comfortable returning home. The official said the resignation had been decided on Friday.

Henry is set to be replaced by a presidential council that will have two observers and seven voting members, including representatives from a number of political coalitions, the business sector, civil society and one religious leader.

The council has been mandated to quickly appoint an interim prime minister.

The leaders discussed the political transition, which the United States had urged last week to be "expedited" as armed gangs sought to topple his government.

Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the council would be tasked with meeting the "immediate needs" of Haitians, enabling the United Nations security mission's deployment and creating security conditions necessary for free elections.

Haiti declared a state of emergency earlier this month as clashes damaged communications and led to two prison breaks after Jimmy Cherizier, or Barbecue, a leader of an alliance of armed groups, said they would unite and overthrow Henry.

The UN estimated that more than 362,000 people have been internally displaced, half of whom are children, and thousands have been killed in the overall conflict, with widespread reports of rape, torture and ransom kidnappings since 2021.

Agencies - Xinhua