Haiti interim Prime Minister Garry Conille has been replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a businessman who was previously considered for the job
| Photo Credit: AP

A transitionary council created to reestablish democratic order in Haiti signed a degree Sunday (November 10, 2024) firing interim Prime Minister Garry Conille and replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a businessman who was previously considered for the job.

The decree, set to be published on Monday (November 11, 2024), was provided to The Associated Press by a government source. It marks even more turmoil in an already rocky democratic transition process for Haiti, which hasn’t held democratic elections in years in large part due to the soaring levels of gang violence plaguing the Caribbean nation.

Mr. Fils-Aimé is the former President of Haiti’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry and in 2015 ran an unsuccessful campaign for Senate. The businessman studied at Boston University and was previously considered for the position as a private sector candidate for the post before Conille took the seat.

Mr. Conille, a longtime civil servant who has worked with the United Nations, served as Prime Minister for only six months.

The transitional council was established in April, tasked with choosing Haiti’s next Prime Minister and Cabinet with the hope that it would help quell the turmoil in Haiti. But the council has been plagued with politics and infighting and has long been at odds with Conille.

Organizations like the Organization of American States tried and failed last week to mediate disagreements in an attempt to save the fragile transition, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

The process suffered another blow in October when three of the members of the council faced corruption accusations, from anti-corruption investigators alleging that they demanded $750,000 in bribes from a government bank director to secure his job.

The report was a significant blow to the nine-member council and is expected to further erode people’s trust in it.

Those same members accused of bribery, Smith Augustin, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Louis Gérald Gilles, were among those to sign the decree. Only one member, Edgard Leblanc Fils, did not sign the order.

The move by the transitional council came under fire by some in Haiti like former Justice Minister Bernard Gousse, who told local media that Conille’s dismissal was “illegal” because the council was over-extending its powers and because of the corruption allegations levered against them.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a rare visit to violence-ravaged Haiti on Thursday (September 5, 2024) heard guarded optimism as he promised $45 million in aid, urged greater international support for a new security mission and sought concrete action toward elections.

Mr. Blinken was the highest-ranking U.S. official in nearly a decade to visit the country, which has been plagued by instability and whose capital had virtually been taken over by criminal gangs.

On Thursday, Mr. Blinken promised $45 million in humanitarian aid but voiced concern about the long-term future of a Kenya-led police force that has been tasked with stabilizing Port-au-Prince and beyond.

He said he would convene talks at the United Nations later this month to raise support for the force, which arrived two months ago and is known as the Multinational Security Support Mission.

“At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel, to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission,” he said.

Meeting Mr. Blinken, interim Prime Minister Garry Conille acknowledged that Haiti faced an “extremely complex” situation but voiced hope.

“If our partners bear with us, commit to us, we will achieve the goals. Progress we’ve achieved so far is actually quite remarkable,” he said.

The top U.S. diplomat, too, saw reason for optimism.

“What I am seeing is tremendous resilience and the emergence— the reemergence— of hope,” Mr. Blinken said.

Speaking in French, Mr. Blinken addressed Haitians at a news conference: “We are with you.”

The senior U.S. official zipped in an armoured motorcade through crowded, pothole-ridden streets strewn with garbage for meetings in the safety of the U.S. ambassador’s residence, after arriving at an airport where limited commercial flights only recently resumed.

Seeking elections

Haiti has not held elections since 2016, widening a political vacuum that has worsened existing security and health crises.

In hopes of moving toward a more legitimate government, the United States and Caribbean nations recently worked to establish a transitional council representing key stakeholders, with Mr. Conille as interim Prime Minister.

“The critical next step that we talked about is setting up an electoral council. We hope to see that stood up soon,” Mr. Blinken told the coordinator of the transitional council.

Mr. Blinken acknowledged that greater security would be the “foundation” for all progress, including on elections.

The coordinator of the transitional council, Edgard Leblanc Fils, said he hoped to move toward the electoral council next week with a goal of elections in November 2025 and a transfer of power in February 2026.

“Progress has been made on security but there remains much to do,” Mr. Leblanc Fils said.

Gangs in recent years have taken over about 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince as any semblance of government evaporated.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has committed $360 million to the multinational mission meant to stabilize the country, including logistical support and equipment, but has also made clear it will not send US troops.

The mission is expected to include about 2,500 police officers, including from Bangladesh, Benin and Jamaica.

But its establishment was repeatedly set back both by a court in Kenya questioning the legality of the mission and by struggles to complete financing for the force, which is estimated to cost about $600 million per year.

To secure funding, the Biden administration has voiced willingness to make the mission a UN peacekeeping operation, after deliberately not putting the force under the UN flag due to grim past memories in Haiti.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which deployed from 2004 to 2017, was tarnished by accusations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and the force’s accidental introduction of cholera, which killed some 10,000 people.

As Mr. Blinken visited, Port-au-Prince was also facing a new energy challenge, with a key power plant going dark after being stormed by demonstrators angered by recurring blackouts.

Mr. Blinken also pressed Haitian leaders to take action against corruption, a serious concern in the country.

The last secretary of state to visit Haiti, John Kerry, met then-President Michel Martelly in 2015.

Last month, U.S. authorities slapped sanctions on Mr. Martelly, who mostly lives in Miami, for allegedly trafficking drugs destined for the United States.

Mr. Blinken said that the action against Mr. Martelly showed that “we will use every tool that we have to hold accountable those who facilitate violence, drug trafficking, instability.”

The U.S. Secretary of State did not stay overnight in Haiti, landing in Santo Domingo on Thursday for meetings with leaders of the Dominican Republic.