Haiti council replaces prime minister, marking more turmoil in transition process

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A transitionary council created to reestablish democratic order in Haiti signed a decree Sunday firing the country’s 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 Monday, 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.

Fils-Aimé, the former president of Haiti’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ran an unsuccessful campaign for Senate in 2015. 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.

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. Groups like the Organization of American States 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 members of the council faced corruption accusations, after investigators alleged that they demanded $750,000 in bribes from a government bank director to secure his job.

The report is expected to further erode people’s trust in the nine-member council.

The 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.