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Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant announced his resignation, a week after deadly violence sparked by the government's announcement to raise fuel prices.
Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant abruptly announced his resignation Saturday, a week after deadly violence triggered by a government attempt to raise fuel prices. "Before coming here, I submitted my resignation to the President of the Republic. (…) The President of the Republic accepted my resignation and, as I say, I am in the service of the Republic " declared Jack Guy Lafontant in front of the deputies.
Accompanied by all his ministers, the head of the government was in the Chamber of Deputies because the parliamentarians demanding his departure from power had summoned him. Friday he badured on Twitter that he would not resign but Jack Guy Lafontant finally announced his departure from power during the session, thus escaping a vote sanctioning deputies.
Several hundred demonstrators also marched Saturday in the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince to demand the departure of the Prime Minister but also President Jovenel Moise. "It's not just a question of changing the Prime Minister because, day by day, the people are suffering more and more from misery, unemployment, insecurity, hunger" testified Fleurette Pierre. "Jovenel must also leave but not in exile no: he will go directly to jail for the money wasted" added the protester living in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the capital.
Haiti paralyzed
The resignation of the Prime Minister puts an end to a week of political and social tension, after the wave of violence that occurred on July 6, 7 and 8. Last Friday, the government announced a 38% increase in gasoline prices, 47% diesel and 51% kerosene, starting Saturday, July 7th at midnight.
The main cities and roads of Haiti were then bristling with barricades, which paralyzed all activity. The violence was the most intense in Port-au-Prince, prey to arson and looting during the weekend. At least four people were killed. The government reversed its decision less than 24 hours after its announcement but, shocked by the lack of political response to the violence, several sectors of Haitian society have, since Monday, demanded the resignation of Jack Guy Lafontant.
Doctor by profession, Jack Guy Lafontant, unknown to the Haitian political clbad until his appointment in February, is a friend of Jovenel Moïse, in power since February 7, 2017. The head of state must now choose a new Prime Minister, a political exercise always complex in Haiti: before a government begins to work, its general policy must be validated by both houses of parliament.
Fears for Social Demands
"I ask President Jovenel Moses to choose a consensus Prime Minister taking into account the aspirations of all sectors of national life" reported on Twitter Speaker of the House of Commons Gary Bodeau, just minutes after the announcement of Mr. Lafontant. That this resignation is given a week after the explosion of popular anger worries some protesters who fear to see the political clbad forget the social demands, in their dealings for the establishment of the future government.
"We need a team that gathers with competent ministers, capable of addressing the problems that we face: they must not take a job just because they are friends of such deputy or such senator " worried Panel Toussaint on the sidelines of the demonstration of this Saturday. "If that's not happening, then the violence will resume: how can we have political stability when the people are hungry and insecure? We have to change the whole system to have a reliable team that can lead the country safely " estimated the young man of 26 years, tired of living only odd jobs.
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