PRINCE PORT.- Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry called for calm in a public speech early Thursday, after three days of violent protests demanding his resignation and have paralyzed the country.
The brief speech did little to calm thousands of people angry and frustrated by relentless gang violence, rising poverty and the failure to call a general election.
“I think the time has come for us to start thinking together to save Haiti, to do things differently in our country,” said Henry, who did not offer further details.
The president urged Haitians not to see the government or the national police as their adversaries. Those who choose violence, destruction and murder to come to power “are not working in the interests of the Haitian people,” he added.
His statements came after thousands of Haitians gathered daily this week in cities and towns across the country to call for his resignation, pointing out that the mobilizations will continue until he leaves power.
The Haitian parliament is empty after the mandate of its last 10 senators expired in January 2023. The country did not hold the elections scheduled for 2019 and 2023, and Henry assumed power with the support of the international community after the assassination of the president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.
On Wednesday, cfive agents from an environmental protection agency died in clashes with police near the Haitian capital, while the country is mired in massive protests demanding the departure of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
A police source informed AFP that the five officials of the National Agency for Protected Areas, an armed state office declared in rebellion against the government, They were shot dead after refusing to put down their rifles and shooting in the direction of the police.
Three other members of that entity were arrested.
Under an agreement reached in December 2022 after the assassination of the then Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, the current prime minister had to organize elections to hand over power on February 7, 2024 to the new elected authorities.
The confrontation between the agents and members of the Protected Areas Security Brigade occurred in the capital’s Laboule community, Lionel Lazarre, head of the Synapoha police union, told The Associated Press.
According to Lazarre’s version, the environmental protection agents began shooting after the police ordered them to lower their weapons, prompting a response from the authorities.
The environmental division has recently been in the spotlight after its troops clashed with police in northern Haiti.
Henry said Haitians need peace, security, jobs and the ability to move freely throughout the country.
“The Haitian people need their children to go to school without fear, because that is what will guarantee their future,” said the president.
Henry once again promised that there will be elections as soon as the insecurity situation is resolved and added that he will continue to reach out and work with those who want the nation to move forward, “to make decisions together that will help us get out of the crisis.” .
In addition, he congratulated the police for their efforts in the fight against gangs and promised that he will continue to press for the deployment of a Kenyan police force, which has the backing of the United Nations but was blocked by a court order from the African nation.
“I want to reaffirm to everyone that the government will do everything possible to ensure that the mission arrives as soon as possible,” he said.
Henry expressed his sympathies to all those killed in this week’s violent protests.
“I guarantee that the Haitian people will have peace and development with prosperity,” he added, without offering more details. “Together, hand in hand, we will change our destiny.”
Haitians said they wanted the prime minister to leave office before February 7, the day leaders usually take office in the country. The date also has deep historical significance: in 1986 former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier fled to France, while in 1991 Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, took office.
Source: With information from AP/AFP
