Ultimately, former de facto Prime Minister Claude Joseph, an influential member of PHTK-Tet Kale 2, will have “everything under control”, forcing members of the Presidential Transitional Council to consider his protégé Smith Augustin as one of the future presidents of this vicious circle, which many believe could be fatal for the country.
Despite his troubles with the law in the case of the alleged embezzlement of thousands of dollars of passport funds from the Haitian Embassy in Washington, an investigation of which was recommended by his detractors, and his indictment by the Haitian justice system in the magnicide of July 7, 2021, Dr. Joseph accelerates the pace, wanting to have it both ways, by sneaking his nebulous political party into the Haitian political arena.
The transition council charged with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates, a decision that has surprised many as gang violence consumes the country and police casualties continue in its ranks.
Instead of having a single president, and while the country is dying and corruption continues to plague the public administration, four long-time politicians will take turns at the head of the council every five months, according to two members who do not ‘have not been allowed to share the changes publicly because they have not yet been announced.
Members told The Associated Press late Wednesday that the board would now consider five members, instead of four, to constitute a majority. The council is made up of nine members, seven of whom have the right to vote.
“It’s a real change,” said Robert Fatton, an expert on Haitian politics at the University of Virginia, without assessing the degree of change in the lives of ordinary citizens since the forced removal of Ariel Henry from the Prime Minister’s office. . “I think it’s a good thing that they’re really sharing power now. This is something very rare in Haitian politics.
The four members who will share power are the first president of the council Edgard Leblanc Fils, a known ally of the PHTK in February 2016, former senator Louis Gérald Gilles, a former parliamentarian from Lavala who switched to the PHTK camp in 2021 , the former presidential candidate Leslie Voltaire and the former de facto ambassador to the Dominican Republic Smith Augustin, appointed to this position by Claude Joseph, without ever presenting his candidacy for the Senate of the Republic.
The changes follow internal unrest that threatened to derail the council following its April 25 swearing-in. The wrangling began five days later, when four council members announced not only a council president, but also a prime minister, to everyone’s surprise.
However, it remains to be seen whether former sports minister Fritz Bélizaire, the eternal unknown on the political scene for more than a decade, will remain the chosen prime minister. A council member told the AP that an announcement is expected to be made next week.
After announcing a prime minister, the council is expected to choose a new cabinet, a process many expect to involve long and fraught negotiations with powerful politicians.
