Montana Accord’s designated PM for Haiti resigns
Overview:
Montana Accords prime minister-designate Steven Irvenson Benoit resigned from the transitional political group aimed at lifting Haiti out of its crisis
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Montana Accords prime minister-elect Steven Irvenson Benoit has resigned from the transitional political group aimed at lifting Haiti out of its crisis.
“I am writing to inform you of my resignation as Prime Minister-elect, to facilitate possible negotiations by the Montana Group with other key sectors of society in the search for a national consensus, and to address the multiple crises of which the Haitian people is affected,” he wrote Jan. 30 to National Transitional Council President James Beltis Letter.
about a tweetThe former senator also announced that he is still a member of the Montana group. He also invited Prime Minister Ariel Henry to reconsider many calls for him to step down as prime minister so the country could move forward. Recommendation that elicited no response from Henry.
In January 2021, Benoit was elected prime minister of the National Transition Council, a proposed transitional government to rule Haiti organized by members of the Montana Accord, a coalition of Haitian civil society. The agreement proposed an interim government consisting of a prime minister and a five-member college of presidents.
Among other posts, the Council had also elected Fritz Alphonse Jean, a former governor of the Haitian central bank, as its interim president. Members of the accord have since called for additional contributions to complete the naming of the college of presidents.
Benoit’s departure from the largely ceremonial post is another setback for the country, which appears to have been deadlocked since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. It comes at a time when leaders appear unable to lead the country back to democracy.
Currently, Haiti does not have a single elected official in the country. Increasingly, gangs control the capital and the police seem to be thrown into confusion as the force has split into different factions. According to local residents, some monitoring organizations in Haiti and international observers, many police officers are linked to the armed gangs.
Father Gardy Maisonneve, head of Sant Karl Leveque, revealed on several radio stations in Haiti that at least 40% of the approximately 10,000 officials are loyal to the gangs.
