Haiti council appoints government to quell chaos

What happened

Haiti's transitional council finished appointing an interim government Tuesday as the Caribbean nation grapples with violent gangs that filled the power vacuum left by the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Prime Minister Garry Conille (pictured above), appointed by the council two weeks ago, was also named interior minister in Tuesday's Cabinet designations.

Who said what

Some Haitians will be "encouraged by these first steps towards normalcy," but "others remain deeply worried about the scale of the task in front of the new Cabinet," the BBC said. Gangs still control most of Port-au-Prince plus many areas outside the capital, and Kenyan peacekeepers have yet to arrive.

The new government has a "smattering of people with international experience," but there are few "immediately recognizable high-level names from within Haitian politics," Haiti scholar Michael Deibert said to The Associated Press. "Some people might think that's a good thing."

What next?

The transitional council still has to appoint a provisional electoral council "before general elections can take place," the AP said. A new president is supposed to be sworn in by Feb. 7, 2026.

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