By Evens Sanon, PORT-AU-PRINCE,
Haiti
A transitionary council
created to reestablish democratic order in Haiti signed a decree Sunday firing
interim Prime
Minister Garry Conille and replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a
businessman who was previously considered for the job.Garry Conille (L) replaced by Alix Didier Fils-Aimé (R)
The decree, set to be
published on 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 a large part due to the soaring levels of gang
violence plaguing the Caribbean nation.
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.
Conille, a longtime civil
servant who has worked with the United Nations, served as prime minister for
only six months.
The transitional presidential
council was established in April, tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime
minister and Cabinet with the hope that it would help quell turmoil 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 The Miami Herald.
The process suffered another
blow in October when three members on 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.
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