Hatiti President appoints new Prime Minister

Reuters - Hatian President Jovenel Moise on Sunday (August 05) nominated former presidential candidate Jean-Henry Ceant to be the nation's new prime minister. The announcement comes after the resignation of Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, who stepped aside after a move to lower fuel subsidies prompted days of violent protests in the impoverished Caribbean nation. At least four were killed in the violence. Ceant is a known figure in Haitian politics having run for president in 2016 and is the leader of the Renmen Ayiti political organization. If he is approved by Haiti's parliament, the new prime minister will take office a month after an announced reduction of fuel subsidies triggered protests during which demonstrators barricaded roads, looted stores and set cars ablaze in the capital, Port-au-Prince. At the height of the unrest, foreign embassies in the capital closed and airlines suspended flights to Haiti for days. Then-Prime Minster Lafontant announced a temporary reversal of the policy in a bid to quell the demonstrations, but the protests continued. He resigned before Parliament scheduled a no-confidence vote in his leadership.