PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin resigned on Monday, according to a high-ranking government official who asked not to be named, presenting a shakeup at the highest levels of government in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

Hours after Lapin’s resignation, the Haitian government announced that Fritz William Michel, who previously worked in the finance ministry, had been selected to succeed Lapin as prime minister.

Michel’s nomination must now be approved by legislators in Haiti.

Lapin’s tenure as prime minister was brief. He took the reins after Jean Henry Ceant was ousted as prime minister in March.

Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste first reported on Monday that Lapin had offered his resignation to President Jovenel Moïse.

“I have made a choice for Haiti,” Lapin said in an interview with the newspaper. </s> PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 22 (Reuters) - Haitian Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin resigned on Monday, according to a high-ranking government official who asked not to be named, presenting a shakeup at the highest levels of government in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

President Jovenel Moïse also wrote in a post on Twitter that a new prime minister will be announced shortly, saying he had been in consultations with congressional leaders about the matter. </s> PORT-AU-PRINCE (Haiti) — Haitian President Jovenel Moisehas named Fritz William Michel as the new prime minister, after Jean Michel Lapin announced his resignation earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting Moise’s twitter.

“Following the resignation of Mr. Lapin, I chose, in consultation with the leaders of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, citizen Fritz William Michel as PM,” Moise tweeted on Monday.

Michel’s nomination must be approved by legislators.

“I have made a choice for Haiti,” Lapin said in an interview with the newspaper Le Nouvelliste. Lapin’s tenure as prime minister was brief. He assumed office after his predecessor Jean Henry Ceant was ousted in March.

Michel faces the tough task of restoring public confidence in Haiti’s leadership.

Sixty percent of Haitians live below the poverty line, the inflation rate has risen past 18 percent and violent crime has surged.

Port-au-Prince is particularly hard-hit, with clashes between armed gangs occurring almost daily.

The United Nations in June released a report saying that at least 26 people were killed during a 2018 massacre in a slum in the capital, at which several members of the police and a government representative were allegedly present. </s> PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin resigned on Monday, according to a high-ranking government official who asked not to be named, presenting a shakeup at the highest levels of government in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

President Jovenel Moïse also wrote in a post on Twitter that a new prime minister will be announced shortly, saying he had been in consultations with congressional leaders about the matter.

Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste first reported on Monday that Lapin had offered his resignation to Moïse.

“I have made a choice for Haiti,” Lapin said in an interview with the newspaper. </s> PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported on Monday that the country’s Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin had offered his resignation to President Jovenel Moïse.

“I have made a choice for Haiti,” Lapin said in an interview with the newspaper. </s> The news of the Prime Minister's resignation comes against the backdrop of a situation of political and economic uncertainty.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin presented Monday his resignation, according to a high-ranking official who asked for anonymity.

“I have made a choice for Haiti,” Lapin said in an interview with local newspaper “Le Nouvelliste”.

In a letter released by local media, President Jovenel Moise called a meeting with the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Gary Bodeau and the Senate, Carl Murat Cantave, to appoint Fritz William Michel as interim prime minister, in accordance with article 137 of the 1987 Constitution.

Lapin was appointed as prime minister on March 21, after 93 deputies out of 103 voted in favor of removing former Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant, making him the third official to hold the post since Moise took office in 2017.

He has since failed to form a government and his appointment was never ratified by the Senate nor the Chamber of Deputies.

Lapin began his public career in 1988 as a public servant in the Ministry of Public Health, he then served as an administrator in the National Library of Haiti (1989-2007) until February 2007 when he moved to the Ministry of Culture, to later become Minister of that entity, as well as director of the National Institute of Music of Haiti.

As interim PM and under his government, Haiti’s Lower House had approved on March a salary increase project to raise the minimum wages for workers from 420 gourdes (about US$ 5.25) to 750 gourdes (US$ 9.38) per day.

The move did not please private sector representatives who threatened to fire over 60,000 workers if the bill went through. Trade union groups neither were satisfied as they considered it insufficient regarding the cost of living in the country.

Pour faire face aux urgences de l’heure,et suite à la démission de M. Lapin, j’ai fait choix,en consultation avec les présidents du Sénat et de la Chambre des Députés,du citoyen Fritz William Michel comme PM, en attendant la ratification de sa Déclaration de politique générale. — Président Jovenel Moïse (@moisejovenel) July 22, 2019

To deal with the emergencies of the day, and following the resignation of Mr. Lapin, I have chosen, in consultation with the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Fritz William Michel as PM.

The news of his resignation comes against the backdrop of a situation of political and economic uncertainty and ends up disrupting the extremely fragile stability of the poorest country in Latin America.

Since February, Haiti has been the scene of massive and deadly protests demanding the resignation of Moise and his administration amid scandals of corruption.

When the country was already dealing with a tense economic crisis and high inflation, the Senate published a report accusing dozens of officials and heads of private firms of having embezzled US$2 billion from Petrocaribe, the cut-price-oil aid program that Venezuela offered to several Caribbean countries.

The funds were meant to finance infrastructure development along with health, education and social programs.

The report sustained already existing questions about what the successive governments have to show for some US$9 billion received for almost ten years, in foreign aid.

The Carribean country of 11 million people has been struggling for decades to overcome extreme poverty along with widespread corruption. These last ten years were particularly harsh for the Caribbean island which went through one of the deadliest earthquakes in 2010, an epidemic of cholera, brought in accidentally by United Nations peacekeepers, and Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. </s> Haitian media reported late Monday that Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin had offered his resignation to President Jovenel Moise (pictured).

"I have made a choice for Haiti," Lapin told the newspaper Le Nouvelliste.

Read more: Haiti paralyzed by fifth day of protests against president

In a Twitter post late Monday, Moise announced that he had appointed Fritz-William Michel to replace Lapin, but he still must formalize his decision with an official decree. Formerly an executive in the Economy and Finance Ministry, Michel would become Moise's fourth head of government in his two-and-a-half years in office.

Michel's appointment came after consultations between Moise and the leaders of the two chambers of parliament — signaling a resumption of dialogue between the three political heavyweights after months of turmoil. He would face the tough task of restoring public confidence in Haiti's leadership.

Moise has had his power to appoint ministers challenged and has faced calls to resign after the High Court of Auditors released a report in May that put the president at the center of an embezzlement scheme that siphoned off aid money from Venezuela intended for fixing roads. "I am looking you right in the eye to tell you today: Your president, the one you voted for, is not involved in corruption," Moise said at an official ceremony in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, last month.

Read more: Dozens of Haitian refugees die after Bahamas shipwreck

Also on Monday, the UN Security Council held closed doors consultations in New York on Haiti’s ongoing political crisis. In his latest report to the council on Haiti, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the political situation, food shortages and deteriorating economy had created a "potentially explosive" situation.

In June, the United Nations released a report that calculated at least 26 people killed during a 2018 massacre in a slum in the capital, with several members of the police and a government representative believed present. Clashes between armed gangs occur almost daily in Port-au-Prince. Sixty percent of Haitians live below the poverty line, the inflation rate has risen past 18%, and violent crime continues to increase.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant has resigned amid widespread unrest following his failed attempt to increase fuel prices.

Lafontant (LA-FAH-TON) told Haiti's Chamber of Deputies on Saturday that he sent President Jovenel Moise his resignation letter.

The deputies had called on the prime minister to answer questions after violent riots took place between July 6 and 8 in protest of the government's attempt to raise fuel prices by up to 51 percent.

At least seven people were killed and dozens of businesses were looted or destroyed during three days of demonstrations. </s> Jack Guy Lafontant, Haiti's embattled prime minister, has announced his resignation following days of violent protests sparked by a now-abandoned plan to raise fuel prices.

"I submitted my resignation to the president of the republic", who has "accepted my resignation", Lafontant said on Saturday in the lower house of Haiti's legislature.

Haiti's parliament was debating a vote of no-confidence against Lafontant.

The unrest started after the government unveiled a proposal to eliminate fuel subsidies which in turn would have hiked fuel prices: 38 percent for gasoline, 47 percent for diesel and 51 percent for kerosene.

The announcement sparked mass protests, with streets in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and other cities blocked with barricades of debris and burning tires.

At least seven people were killed and dozens of businesses were looted or destroyed during three days of demonstrations.

Lafontant, who took office in February 2017, later announced the plan would not go ahead, but protesters still demanded his resignation.

Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Port-au-Prince, said the parliament had been debating whether to give or not Lafontant a vote of confidence for more than three hours.

In his speech to parliament, the prime minister defended his government but then said he had sent President Jovenel Moise his resignation letter, added our correspondent.

"Essentially right now," added Elizondo, "the country of Haiti now has no current functioning government ... The next step will be that the president as well as the two heads of parliament will decide the next prime minister of Haiti."
Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Michel Lapin, who was appointed 4 months ago, resigns amidst renewed protests. President Jovenel Moïse appoints Fritz-William Michel as the new Prime Minister.