PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Haiti's transitional ruling council
which is leading the violence-wracked Caribbean nation will rotate its
leadership every five months according to a decree seen by AFP Friday,
following internal political strife among its members.

The new council came to power last month as Haiti's unpopular and unelected
prime minister Ariel Henry submitted his formal resignation after armed gangs
rose up and demanded his ouster.

Several days after the council's nine members were sworn in, they chose
politician Edgard Leblanc Fils from among themselves to head the long-awaited
governing body.

But his appointment to the role, whose main purpose is coordination, was not
without internal controversy.

Leblanc Fils and three other members of the council announced a political
alliance with the intention to vote as a bloc, a move that was particularly
significant given only seven of the council's nine members have voting
rights.

Among the bloc's intended decisions was appointment of former sports minister
Fritz Belizaire as prime minister, an unexpected move which outraged the
other three voting members.

In order to "avoid any dysfunction in the council," the decree seen by AFP
said, the body had "proceeded by consensus to a rotating presidency."

It also agreed that its most important decisions, including appointment of a
prime minister and a government, would be made by a majority of five votes
out of seven.

Leblanc Fils will be leader of the council until October 7, to be followed
sequentially by members Smith Augustin, Leslie Voltaire and Louis Gerald
Gilles.

"Cohesion within the transitional presidential council is an overriding
necessity to guarantee a solution to the multidimensional crisis facing the
Haitian nation," the decree read.

Haiti, a nation of 11.6 million people, has suffered from poverty, political
instability and natural disasters for decades. It is the poorest country in
the Americas.

Its situation plummeted starting in late February as powerful and well-armed
gangs that control most of the capital Port-au-Prince and much of the country
went on a rampage they said was aimed at toppling prime minister Henry.

In recent days, the United States has flown 21 sorties into Port-au-Prince,
delivering cargo and civilian contractors, according to information published
by the US Southern Command on Friday.

The objective is to help prepare Haiti for deployment of a UN-backed
multinational force -- to be led by Kenya -- which is tasked with helping its
beleaguered police rein in the criminal gangs.