Haiti's New Prime Minister Henry Appoints His Cabinet

On Monday, Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry appointed members of his cabinet and retained Claude Joseph as Foreign Affairs Minister.

RELATED:

Haiti: Authorities Seek Businessman Linked to Moise Killing

The cabinet has 18 ministries and retains important figures from the last government, including Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent, Economy Minister Patrick Boisvert, and Health Minister Marie Roy.

The new Interior Minister will be Lizst Quitel, who was a member of the cabinet of the outgoing Prime Minister. The Ministry of Planning will be headed by former Senator Dieuseul Desras, who is a member of the leftist Fanmi Lavalas party. The Culture and Communication Minister will be Jean Jacquet, a journalist.

Prime Minister Henry will also take over the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, which he already headed between 2015 and 2016 during the Michel Martelly administration.

On Monday, Claude Joseph, who led Haiti since the assassination of Jovenel Moise, announced his resignation as Prime Minister and ended the power dispute he had with Henry.

Henry was named prime minister in a decree signed by Moise two days before he was killed, but was not sworn in. According to press reports, there will be no president of Haiti, since the new government will organize general elections as soon as possible.

The agreement to form a new government comes 48 hours after representatives of the United Nations and the United States in Haiti, as well as a group of foreign ambassadors that make up the so-called Core Group, urged Henry on Saturday to form a consensual and inclusive government.