PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s long-running political crisis deepened Friday when the country’s transitional presidential council announced it had voted to fire Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, just two weeks before the panel is supposed to step down.
Edgard Leblanc Fils made the announcement at a news conference alongside fellow council member Leslie Voltaire, saying a majority of the panel took the step in a vote Thursday, defying calls from the U.S. government to maintain stability in the Caribbean country’s leadership. No other members of the panel were at the news conference.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement late Thursday that keeping Fils-Aimé on in the position was “integral” to Haiti's efforts to overcome the gangs terrorizing the country, and warned that any politicians supporting the “vicious gangs” would pay a steep cost.
Leblanc did not elaborate on the reasons why council members had turned against Fils-Aimé, who they chose for the position in November 2024. But Leblanc said the council would secure a replacement within 30 days “to find the way to fully restore security and stability and enter a cycle of development, correct the mistakes of the past and look ahead.”
“We know that the decision we make is in the interest of the country and in this sense, our friends in the international community will have to take note of our decisions,” Leblanc said.
Voltaire said the council chose Fils-Aimé in the first place — “it wasn't the whites who chose Didier” — and that the council also would choose his successor, as well as a new government, free of foreign interference.
“Everyone is looking for a Haitian solution to the crisis, but when we start to find a Haitian solution to the crisis, the international community comes in with all its claws," Voltaire said.
He added that while the council recognized Fils-Aimé's capacity and enthusiasm, “the population doesn't get what it needs.”
Voltaire said the council was on its way out but that it wants the “second half to play with a good team.” And if political parties and the civil sector do not find “the best of the best” by Feb. 6, “we will come up with a solution.”
The announcement came as the council faces increased pressure to hold general elections for the first time in a decade. Tentative dates were set for August and December this year to elect a president for the first time since President Jovenel Moïse was killed at his home in July 2021.
Gang violence has surged since then, with armed men controlling an estimated 90% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and swaths of land in the country's central region. More than 8,100 killings were reported across the country of nearly 11 million people from January to November last year, according to the U.N., which warned those figures are underreported.
Leblanc said he wants political organizations, civil society and the religious sector to come together and decide how best to govern Haiti after Feb. 7, when the council is supposed to step down.
Michael Deibert, the author of two books on Haiti, warned that if the council doesn't step down by that date, it “could add another element of volatility and uncertainty in the political arena in a country already struggling with the rupture of constitutional order and incredibly severe crises of violence and insecurity.”
He also noted that more upheaval could occur in the next two weeks: “Alliances are very changeable and transactional in the political arena in Haiti.”
No other members of the nine-member council were present at Friday’s news conference. Seven of them have voting powers, with five considered a majority.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the council’s current leader, Laurent Saint-Cyr, supported dismissing the prime minister. Saint-Cyr said in a statement earlier this week that he opposes any push to undermine the government’s stability ahead of Feb. 7.
On Friday, a spokesman said that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Fils-Aimé to reaffirm U.S. support for Haiti’s stability and security and said that ongoing gang violence can only be stopped with consistent, strong leadership, with the full support of the Haitian people.
Rubio also said that the council “must be dissolved by February 7 without corrupt actors seeking to interfere in Haiti’s path to elected governance for their own gain,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
FILE - Haiti's Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé attend the inauguration of the nation's new cabinet, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)
