A transitionary council removed Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille from office on Monday, replacing him in the role after just six months.
The council has named businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé to replace Conille. The move comes amid deep political turmoil in Haiti throughout the year. The country has seen rampant gang violence and repeated turnover of leadership.
Fils-Aimé is the former president of Haiti’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The transitionary council was established in April in an attempt to establish stability in the government after gangs took over the nation’s capital of Port Au Prince in March.
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Fils-Aimé was originally considered for the prime minister role earlier this year, but ultimately lost out to Conille, who was appointed to the role in June.
Conille quickly came into conflict with the transitionary council, however. Three members of the council were also accused of corruption. Investigators said the officials demanded $750,000 in bribes from a bank director in order to secure his appointment to the role.
All three of the members involved in the corruption scandal, Smith Augustin, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Louis Gérald Gilles, signed onto Monday’s decree removing Conille.
The security situation in Haiti degraded further in October despite months of support from the United Nations and Kenyan-led forces sent in to aid the Haitian police.
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A top U.N. official in Haiti said last month that more than 700,000 Haitians are now internally displaced, and the Multinational Security Support Mission remains under resourced.
Gang violence, once primarily concentrated in Haiti’s capital city, has now expanded under an alliance of well-armed gangs known as Viv Ansanm beyond the parameters of Port-au-Prince, with “murders, kidnappings and sexual violence of unprecedented brutality” being reported across the country.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
