Haiti’s Transitional Council Deepens Political Chaos by Voting to Oust the Prime Minister

Haiti’s long-running political crisis deepened Friday when the country’s transitional presidential council announced it had voted to fire Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, just two weeks before the panel is supposed to step down. 
  
Edgard Leblanc Fils made the announcement at a news conference alongside fellow council member Leslie Voltaire, saying a majority of the panel took the step in a vote Thursday, defying calls from the U.S. government to maintain stability in the Caribbean country’s leadership.  
  
Leblanc said the council would secure a replacement within 30 days “to find the way to fully restore security and stability and enter a cycle of development, correct the mistakes of the past and look ahead.” 
    
The announcement came as the council faces increased pressure to hold general elections for the first time in a decade. Tentative dates were set for August and December this year to elect a president for the first time since President Jovenel Moïse was killed at his home in July 2021. 
  
Gang violence has surged since then, with armed men controlling an estimated 90% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and swaths of land in the country’s central region. More than 8,100 killings were reported across the country of nearly 11 million people from January to November last year, according to the U.N., which warned those figures are underreported. 
 
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