Haiti cabinet sworn in amid political stalemate
President Michel Martelly assigns a new cabinet and secretaries of state a week after parliament was dissolved.
A new Haitian cabinet and other government leaders have been sworn in as President Michel Martelly runs the troubled Caribbean country without a parliament.
The 20 ministers and more than a dozen secretaries of state were named on Monday in a ceremony at the site of the former national palace.
Their apppointment comes roughly a week after parliament was dissolved amid a bitter stalemate between Martelly and a group of opposition lawmakers.
Martelly kept half of his former cabinet ministers in their posts in what he touted as a “consensus government” reached after negotiations with a number of opposition parties.
Changes were made in several key ministries, including justice and planning.
“This government we install today is the fruit of dialogue between the sons and daughters of the country,” Martelly said.
Haiti’s president began ruling by decree last week while trying to steer the impoverished country towards long-delayed legislative and municipal elections.
Prime Minister Evans Paul, who was in the moderate opposition to Martelly before joining his government, was sworn in last week. He will run day-to-day government affairs.
The hardline opposition to Martelly has promised a wave of intensified street protests to try and pressure him from office. Martelly took power in 2011 and is due to leave next year.