Haiti Prime Minister Henry resigns ahead of ceremony to install new presidential council

Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry and his cabinet officially resigned on Thursday, indicating he will not stay around for the transition to a new era of governance. The decision leaves a political vacuum as the country continues to struggle with a worsening security and humanitarian crisis.

Henry announced the resignation in two letters to his cabinet, which met late Wednesday. The notice was made public Thursday as members of the new transitional presidential council were wrapping up their swearing-in ceremony.

The nine-member council is tasked with forging a path out of the current crisis and leading Haiti to eventual elections. A decree published in the country’s official Gazette names finance minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as the country’s interim prime minister.

Boisvert had been acting on Henry’s behalf while the prime minister remained out of Haiti after being unable to return to his country. Henry had been on an official visit to Kenya, where he was finalizing an agreement for the deployment of a multinational security support force to help the Haiti National Police combat gangs and was out of the country when the violence shut down the country’s airports.

Boisvert will be in charge of the country’s day-to-day governance while the presidential council works on finding a replacement for Henry and readying the country for the arrival of the Kenya-led mission.

Henry had initially announced his intentions on March 11 to step down from office after the council’s swearing-in.

Though on Wednesday, council members said that the swearing-in would take place at the former offices of the prime minister of Haiti, Villa d’Accueil, due to security concerns at the National Palace, a last-minute decision was taken to go to the palace anyway.

Ahead of the 10 a.m. ceremony, the nine members of the presidential council, wearing dark blue suits, were sworn-in on the grounds of the National Palace.

After the swearing-in ceremony, they went to the Villa d’Accueil, where the panel’s only female, Régine Abraham, a representative of the inter-faith community, addressed the nation.

After today’s swearing-in, the new council has to select a president from among their seven voting members and then begin the process of choosing Henry’s replacement.

In his resignation note, Henry thanked the members of his government and members of the security forces who accompanied him during his nearly three years in office.

“I am grateful to you for the sacrifices made during these troubled times,” he said. “I am devastated by the enormous losses and suffering endured by the Haitian people during this crisis.”

Though Henry was the longest-serving prime minister in Haiti’s troubled political history, his was marked by an unprecedented period of gang violence and turmoil, kidnappings and a humanitarian crisis spiraling out of control. His inability to stem the violence and control the spread of gangs, which now control more than 80% of the capital, made him an unpopular figure inside the country and among Caribbean leaders.

One overlooked achievement of his tenure: Haiti’s finances. The government increased revenue from the country’s ports by cracking down on corruption, and Haiti recently paid Venezuela $500 million toward its debt as part of negotiations to get the South American nation to erase nearly $2 billion borrowed as part of the Petrocaribe oil program.

Since January, more than 2,500 Haitians have been killed or injured, according to the United Nations, the deadliest three months since the U.N, began tracking gang-related deaths in 2021. After gangs began launching fresh attacks on Feb. 29 and demanding his ouster, the Biden administration, which had supported Henry, pressured him to resign.

Henry was named prime minister by President Jovenel Moïse about two months before he was assassinated. Both men kept the nomination quiet and it wasn’t made public until days before Moïse’s July 7, 2021, slaying.

During his tenure, Henry was accused of having been involved in the president’s death because of a phone call from one of the suspects. But both the suspect, Joseph Felix Badio, and a Haitian judge investigating the assassination cleared him of any involvement.