Haiti’s Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe resigned on Wednesday as the Caribbean country is experiencing a serious political and security crisis.
Jouthe announced his resignation in a message broadcast via Twitter at sunrise, President Jovenel Moise similarly accepted the resignation and announced that the current Chancellor, Claude Joseph, will take over as Prime Minister.
In his post, Jouthe did not state the reason for his resignation, which he accepted in March 2020, affirming that it was “an honor” to serve his country and thanking members of his government and “technical and financial partners”. for your cooperation.
Moments later, President Moise accepted the resignation of the Jouthe government and assured that his departure would enable 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 the talks to continue to achieve 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 nomination was not ratified by parliament as ordered by the constitution, as the legislative assembly has been closed since January 2020 due to the non-holding of the planned elections for 2019.
His resignation comes at a time of a serious security crisis, after 12 religious, including two French nationals, were kidnapped last weekend amid a wave of kidnappings perpetrated by armed gangs.
On Monday, Jouthe gave a press conference describing the kidnapping as “an earthquake” 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 President Moise’s legitimacy and refuses to participate in the drafting of the new constitution that the president is trying to promote.
On 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 prepares to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in parallel convened for September 19, in which the successor to the current head of state will be elected.