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Haiti: Lawmakers approve Laurent Lamothe as new Prime Minister
Haiti Prime Minister.,Laurent Lamothe. PHOTO/File
Haiti lawmakers have approved President Michel Martelly’s choice for a new prime minister, ending a two-month impasse that had hampered the country’s efforts to rebuild from the devastating 2010 earthquake.
The Chamber of Deputies voted 62-3 with two abstentions to confirm Laurent Lamothe, who will serve as Haiti’s head of government and lead earthquake reconstruction efforts. Lamothe was a special adviser to Martelly before being named foreign affairs minister and has been co-chairman of an economic advisory panel with former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Lamothe’s approval ends a stalemate created by the sudden resignation of the previous prime minister, Garry Conille. His departure had impeded Martelly’s ability to govern and caused unease among donor governments and organizations that have pledged billions of dollars to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
In a brief interview with The Associated Press minutes after the vote, Lamothe, 39, said he would tackle Haiti’s extreme poverty, rebuild public buildings that collapsed in the quake, restore the population’s confidence in the government, and move the 400,000-plus people displaced by the earthquake who remain in makeshift settlements.
“We have a lot of work to do now,” Lamothe said by telephone. “I feel that the country finally has the opportunity to work on the people’s problems. We have a lot of different issues to deal with and finally we have the team in place to start solving the people’s problems.”
Before the legislative debate began Thursday evening, Haiti’s leaders came under pressure from Clinton, the United Nations’ special envoy to Haiti, who urged them to confirm Lamothe and establish a fully functioning government within the week.
Martelly, a first-time politician, has spent a year in office, but he’s had a prime minister for only four of those months, hobbling his ability to govern. Infighting between Martelly and his critics in the opposition-controlled Parliament, and even in his administration, has become routine. Conille resigned in February because he clashed with the president.
