Haiti’s Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe resigned on Wednesday as the Caribbean country goes through a serious political and security crisis.
Jouthe announced his resignation in a message spread this morning via Twitter, President Jovenel Moise accepted the resignation in the same way and to announce that the current Chancellor, Claude Joseph, will take over as Prime Minister.
In his message, Jouthe did not report on the reason for his resignation, which he took up in March 2020, said it was “an honor” to serve his country and thanked members of his government. and “to technical and financial partners” for their collaboration.
Moments later, President Moise accepted the resignation of the Jouthe government, assuring that his departure would allow progress on the problem of insecurity and the resolution of the political crisis.
“The resignation of the government, which I have accepted, will allow the blatant problem of insecurity to be addressed and talks to continue. to reach the necessary consensus for the political and institutional stability of our country. Minister Claude Joseph is appointed prime minister, “Moise wrote on Twitter.
Jouthe was appointed prime minister on March 2, 2020, but his appointment was not ratified by Parliament, as required by the Constitution, as the Legislature is closed since January 2020 due to the non-holding of elections scheduled for 2019 .
His resignation comes at a time of severe security crisis, after 12 religious, including two French nationals, were abducted last weekend amid a wave of kidnappings by armed gangs.
On Monday, Jouthe gave a press conference in which he described the kidnapping as “an earthquake” that is causing the “collapse” of the foundations of Haitian society.
The country is also going through a serious political crisis, as the opposition does not recognize the legitimacy of President Moise and refuses to participate in the drafting of the new Constitution that seeks to push the president.
This Tuesday the UN office in Haiti warned that the consultation process around the draft of the new Constitution is not “sufficiently inclusive, participatory or transparent”.
Moise is preparing in parallel for the holding of legislative and presidential elections, which are convened for next September 19, in which the successor of the current head of state will be elected.