Haiti's New Prime Minister Garry Conille is Committed to Seeking Unity

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – The new Prime Minister of Haiti, Garry Conille, has vowed to seek unity.

On Thursday, in  his first statement since being selected to head the government, Conille thanked the civil society groups, political parties and members of the Haitian diaspora who proposed him as a candidate, saying he was “very honored” to have been chosen.

“ I feel very honored that the Presidential Council has chosen me as the new Prime Minister of Haiti. I would like to thank all the civil society organizations, political parties and members of the diaspora who proposed my name among the other candidates in the process. Together, we will work for a better future for all of our Nation’s children,” he said in a statement posted on the X social media platform.

Conille previously served as  prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then President Michel Martelly.

Conille, who presented his resignation from his post as UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday, the day of his election – now faces a monumental task, with Haiti under siege by gangs that control at least 80 per cent of the capital as the country awaits the UN-backed deployment of a police force from Kenya.

The prime minister shares executive power with the presidency, which has been vacant in Haiti since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, whose death left a power vacuum that criminal gangs have exploited.