Addis Ababa, July 21, 2021 (Walta) – Haiti swore in a new Prime Minister yesterday, as mourning continues for the late President Jovenel Moïse.
Ariel Henry, a 71-year-old neurosurgeon was formally appointed to replace interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph who had temporarily assumed leadership after the July 7 commando attack at Moïse’s private home, during which the First Lady was also badly injured.
In the new government, Joseph, who agreed to stand down and cede the role to Henry, returned to his former post as foreign minister.
Henry was installed as head of a new government in an attempt to stabilize a country on the brink of chaos since the murder of president Jovenel Moise
The swearing-in of Henry, who was named to the post by Moise days before his death, was seen as a key step towards holding elections as demanded by many Haitians and the international community.
After the president was killed by armed commandos, acting prime minister Claude Joseph declared a “state of siege” and said he was in charge, launching a power tussle in the violence-wracked, impoverished Caribbean nation.
“One of my priority tasks will be to reassure the people that we will do everything to restore order and security,” Henry said Tuesday to Haiti’s population of 10 million people.
“This is one of the main issues that the president wanted me to tackle because he understood that it was a necessary step if we were to succeed in his other concern of organizing credible, honest, transparent, and inclusive elections.”
The inauguration ceremony in Port-au-Prince was preceded by solemn tributes to Moise, including speeches, dancing, and music on a stage set with bouquets of white flowers and a giant portrait of the assassinated president, According to Africanews.
Haitian authorities, with the help of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, are still investigating the murky motives for Moise’s assassination.