Haiti’s new prime minister says the situation is critical and there is no time to lose

Puerto Príncipe, Haití —The new Government of Haiti, headed by businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, officially took office on Saturday. This comes after a week of resurgence of violence in the capital due to the armed gangs that plague the country. The country is experiencing a “critical” situation, and “there is no time to lose,” said the new head of Government.

“There is no time to lose. This Government takes office with a sense of urgency and gravity. We have no state of grace or time for observation. Every hour counts, every day lost is a blow to the hopes of our people,” he said while speaking at the ceremony in Villa d’Accueil, in the capital.

Fils-Aimé, whose Government was appointed the day before, reiterated that the primary objective is to prepare the ground for inclusive and transparent elections in a nation that, he admitted, is going through a critical period and that Haitians live in anguish and insecurity.

Of the total number of ministers, eight retain the portfolio they held in the administration of the recently dismissed Prime Minister Garry Conille, while ten are joining the Executive, including Harvel Jean Baptiste at the head of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Alfred Metellus will be in Finance, Patrick Pelissier in Justice and Paul Antoine Bien-Aime in Interior.

The new head of Government invited the ministers “to fully appreciate the magnitude of the responsibilities incumbent on them” and considered that “only the participation and contribution of all can provide effective and lasting responses to the problems that beset our country.”

“Our mission is clear: we must restore hope to our people by facing with determination the great challenges facing Haiti,” he said, adding that “insecurity in all its forms must be vigorously combated, in particular physical, economic and food insecurity.”

Fils-Aimé also stressed that “roads and main thoroughfares must once again become routes for life and prosperity, and those who have had to leave their homes must be able to return to them safely. “The means are limited. Expectations are immense. Public money must be spent in a rational and austere way, with maximum transparency,” he added.

The Prime Minister declared that the Government’s road map “consists of restoring security, responding to the humanitarian emergency, relaunching the economy, and preparing for the elections.

For his part, the Chairman of the Presidential Transitional Council, Leslie Voltaire, reminded the new ministers of their immense tasks and responsibilities. “We do not have much time left. Now is the time to change what needs to be changed to save the transition,” he declared in his speech.

Voltaire said he was aware of the gravity and consequences of the actions of the bloodthirsty gangs, which are becoming increasingly aggressive and continue to attack and kill more people and burn houses.

The country lives “in a situation of almost total paralysis of economic and social life, while important deadlines await us in the democratic and political life of the nation,” he said, referring to the holding of the constitutional referendum and next year’s elections.

The new Government assumes the country’s reins in a context of violence. Last Sunday, the leader of the coalition of armed gangs Vivre Ensemble (Living Together), Jimmy Cherizier alias Barbecue, announced new days of terror in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.

That materialized the next day, and even commercial planes were attacked near the capital’s international airport, a city that this Saturday is trying to return to normal.