Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has yielded to pressure to exit office and tendered his resignation as head of the Caribbean nation, the leader of a regional body said yesterday, an unelected role the 74-year-old neurosurgeon held since 2021.
Henry bowed to pressure from gang movement opposed to his leadership days after he jetted back from Kenya to meet president William Ruto to discuss planned deployment of Kenya Police to Haiti to restore sanity.
However, a section of Kenyan leaders has opposed the move and the judiciary has halted the process citing it as illegal.
“We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister.” The Caribbean Community chair Irfaan Ali, also the president of Guyana, thanking Henry for his service to Haiti said.
Henry traveled to Kenya late last month to secure its leadership of a United Nations-backed international security mission to help police fight armed gangs, but a drastic escalation of violence in the capital Port-au-Prince during his absence left him stranded in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Henry’s resignation comes as regional leaders met earlier on Monday in nearby Jamaica to discuss the framework for a political transition, which the U.S. urged last week to be “expedited” while gangs called for Henry to step down.
Regional officials have been engaged in talks involving members of Haiti’s political parties, private sector, civil society and religious groups aimed at establishing the transition council that would pave the way to the first elections since 2016.
Henry, who many Haitians consider corrupt, had repeatedly postponed elections saying security must first be restored.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier on Monday called for the creation of a “broad-based, inclusive, independent presidential college”.
This council would be tasked with meeting the “immediate needs” of Haitian people, enabling the security mission’s deployment and creating security conditions necessary for free elections, Blinken said.
