Mr. Ariel Henry | Image: Google
‘I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible’
By Valentine Amanze
Law and order have broken down in Haiti, a central American country, forcing the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, to quit office online on Tuesday March 12, 2024.
Henry threw in the towel from Puerto Rico following weeks of mounting pressure and increasing violence in the impoverished country.
His resignation on Tuesday came after regional leaders met in Jamaica on Monday to discuss a political transition in Haiti.
BBC reports that Henry is currently stranded in Puerto Rico after being prevented by armed gangs from returning home.
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It stated that in a video address announcing his resignation, Henry urged Haitians to remain calm.
“The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of [a transition] council.
“I want to thank the Haitian people for the opportunity I had been granted. I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible,” Henry stated.
Henry, who had led the country supposedly on an interim basis since July 2021 following former President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination, had repeatedly postponed elections, saying security must be restored first.
Many Haitians had questioned him governing the country for this long without an elected president.
Heavily armed gangs, according to BBC, have tightened their grip on the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and attacked the main prison to help thousands of inmates escape.
They also demanded the resignation of the unelected prime minister.
The capital Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region is under a month-long state of emergency, while a curfew has been extended.
Besides, the country’s army and police are ill-equiped to quench the crisis, while there are no reports of any casualty in the incident.
valoa2000@yahoo.com
