Critics of the prime minister noted that he was appointed, not elected, to his position with the backing of the international community shortly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Politicians across Haiti are scrambling for power after Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created
On 12 March, Haiti's president Ariel Henry agreed to resign after turmoil prevented him from returning to his country from a trip abroad. Over the past months, thousands of Haitians have fled chaos and gang violence to neighbouring Dominican Republic; the crisis recently intensified with weeks of protests against Henry and a mass prison break in Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets.
Gangs have deep ties to Haiti’s political and economic elite, but they have become more independent, financing their operations with kidnapping ransoms to buy smuggled weapons.