The Senate appointed a provisional president of Haiti in defiance of the prime minister

The Haitian Senate on Friday appointed Joseph Lambert, current head of the upper house, as provisional president of the Republic, and denies the authority of the interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, who has been in power since the assassination of Jovenel Moise with the support of the UN and the United States.

The resolution, signed by eight of the ten senators still active, consider that Claude Joseph was dismissed from his functions last Monday, in the last decree signed by Moise before his assassination on Wednesday, Lambert confirmed to Efe.

According to the resolution, Lambert will assume the leadership of the state until February 7, 2022, date of the end of Moise’s mandate, and his first task will be to form “a government of national accord” with the mission of organizing the elections.

Within fifteen days of the investiture, An electoral council will be formed in charge of calling the elections, which would be held in the last week of July..

“Restoring security and organizing credible elections as soon as possible are the two priorities of the interim government,” the document said.

In its recitals, The resolution affirms that Claude Joseph cannot exercise the functions of Prime Minister since last Monday, President Moise appointed Ariel Henry to this position by decree, but the latter was not invested before the death of the president.

After the assassination, Joseph took over the government, supported by the police and the military, and received explicit support from the UN, the United States and other countries to fulfill these functions.

The interim Prime Minister assured that he intends to maintain the electoral calendar planned before the death of Moise, which includes the holding of presidential and legislative elections., in addition to a referendum to approve a new Constitution, on September 26.

The Senate is the only body in the country to have elected posts, but since January 2020, this legislative chamber is no longer empowered to make decisions due to a lack of quorum.

The Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the Senate should have been renewed in 2019, but the elections were postponed due to political instability in the country at the time, which led to the closure of the legislature.

On the other hand, a Haitian prosecutor called on Friday two magnates, Réginald Boulos and Dimitri Vorbe, and former opposition senators Youri Latortue and Steven Benoît, to testify for the murder of Moise.

The four, known opponents of Jovenel Moise, were summoned for next Monday by prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude, of the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince.

Boulos, owner of a business conglomerate, and Vorbe, whose family owns the company that controls the electricity sector, have been accused by the Moise government of funding the protests that have destabilized the country since 2018.

Former senator Steven Benoît questioned the official version of the assassination in several interviews and suggested that Moise was killed by his security forces.

The prosecutor also called four of the police and military chiefs responsible for Jovenel Moise’s security to testify next week.

Haitian Police say the attack was carried out by a command of 28 people, 26 of whom are Colombian. and two others are Americans of Haitian descent.

Currently, 20 people have been arrested for their alleged direct involvement in the attack, including 18 Colombians and the two Americans.

The Colombian government has confirmed that several of the detainees are former soldiers and offered its cooperation to the Haitian authorities in the investigation.

(With information from EFE)

KEEP READING: