New Haitian Prime Minister, Garry Conille promises unity to his people

Garry Conille, Haiti’s new prime minister, said on Wednesday that he felt very proud to be chosen for the job. This was his first statement since a transitional council picked him to lead the troubled Caribbean country, which is facing problems with gangs.

Conille said thanks to the community groups, political parties, and Haitian people living in other countries who chose him to be a candidate.

“We will work together to make a better future for all the children in our country,” he wrote on X, a social media site, in Haitian Creole.

Conille quit his job at UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday. He has been in that position since January 2023. He was the leader of Haiti from October 2011 to May 2012 when Michel Martelly was president.

Conille learned about medicine and public health, then he worked to improve healthcare in poor communities in Haiti. He also helped to organize rebuilding after the big earthquake in 2010. Before being a regional director with UNICEF, he worked as a specialist for the United Nations in development.

Now, he has a very big job ahead of him. Gangs control most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The country is waiting for a police force from Kenya and other countries to help.

The transitional council did not officially announce their decision about Conille, but six out of seven members with the power to vote chose him. Laurent St Cyr, the seventh person, is not in Haiti right now and couldn’t vote.

Conille will take over as the new Prime Minister from Michel Patrick Boisvert, who has been helping run the country since former Prime Minister Ariel Henry stepped down in April due to increased gang violence.

It wasn’t clear right away if there would be a formal ceremony for Conille to officially take on his new role.

UNICEF leader Catherine Russell hopes that Conille is successful in bringing peace, stability, and hope to the children of Haiti.

Some council members did not want Conille as their first choice.

In the end of April, a small group in the council said they picked Fritz Bélizaire, a former sports minister, to be the new prime minister. The decision upset the council members, and some of them wanted the correct rules to be followed.

So, the council said it would take suggestions for prime minister, and many people were suggested. None of the decisions were shared with the public, and people are upset because the council didn’t explain how they chose a leader.

The council has to pick a new group of leaders and set up a temporary group to organize elections before they can happen. The council’s term will end on February 7, 2026, when a new president will take over.