Haitian Prime Minister is fired, adding to the nation’s turmoil

The former United Nations official tapped to lead Haiti through a gang-fueled crisis has been fired by the country’s ruling council, following a political power struggle that unfolded amid a wave of kidnappings and killings.

The official, Garry Conille, 58, a medical doctor who previously ran UNICEF’s Latin America regional office, was hired in late May to serve as interim prime minister of Haiti. He and the country’s ruling council are supposed to pave the way for elections next year to choose a new president.

Haiti’s transitional council named Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, the owner of a chain of dry cleaners and a former candidate for the Haitian Senate, as his replacement, according to an executive order published Sunday afternoon in the country’s official gazette, Le Moniteur. The former president of the Haiti’s Chamber of Commerce, he studied at Boston University and describes himself on LinkedIn as “an entrepreneur” and “engaged citizen.”

Haiti’s last president was murdered in July 2021 and no elections have been held since. The prior prime minister was forced from office earlier this year by a coalition of gangs that had taken over the capital, Port-au-Prince, waging attacks on a range of targets, from police stations to prisons to hospitals.

Unable to even return home from an overseas trip, the previous prime minister, Ariel Henry, stepped down in April as killings soared and thousands of people were forced from their homes because of gang violence.

The decision to oust Conille is another setback for the country because power vacuums and a lack of political stability are often cited as among the key reasons that Haiti has been unable to beat back gangs that have taken control of many neighborhoods.

Conille had helped oversee an international force of police officers, most of them Kenyan, who arrived in Haiti in June to try to restore order.

But Conille’s relationship with a transitional presidential council, a nine-member board ruling Haiti until presidential elections could be held, was contentious from the start.

As prime minister, Conille is the head of government, and the seven voting members of the council rotate the title of “president,” — head of state.

The last straw appeared to be Conille’s efforts to have three council members who are accused of corruption removed from office.