PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The head of a rotating presidency that is running Haiti said on Monday that he would not ratify the handover to the man in line to take over from him, citing unresolved corruption accusations against three other council members.
The break between president Edgard Leblanc Fils and the rest of the council creates fresh uncertainty in a country still reeling from the gang massacre of at least 70 people last week, with Prime Minister Garry Conille seeking security assistance abroad.
Haiti named the transition council in April after arduous negotiations between various sectors of the Caribbean nation’s political and civil alliances. It was empowered with choosing a prime minister and wielding certain presidential powers until conditions are considered secure enough for a new election.
The nine-member council was set to transfer the rotating presidency to Leslie Voltaire on Monday afternoon. But former senate leader Leblanc Fils has not signed a resolution ratifying the transition, citing a corruption scandal engulfing three other members of the office.
Haiti’s anti-corruption unit had recommended legal action in a report earlier this month that said the three had accepted credit cards and asked for nearly $770,000 from a state-run bank president.
But the three would be kept on the council under the resolution.
“I cannot participate in any process that will further weaken and devalue the country’s justice system,” Leblanc Fils said in a video message late on Sunday, after refusing to sign the resolution on Friday.
“The decision taken by the council’s majority is not good. It risks throwing us into instability, aggravating the country’s situation and prolonging the transition process,” he said.
The January 30 Collective of political parties, which nominated Leblanc Fils to the council, said it noted “with amazement” the signatures of the three members accused of corruption on Friday’s resolution and called for them to be put aside pending a judicial ruling.
The accused are diplomat Smith Augustin, politician Louis Gerald Gilles, and former judge Emmanuel Vertilaire. All three have rejected the charges. Augustin was initially slated to succeed Leblanc Fils as the council’s president.
Leblanc Fils has said he hopes the country’s first elections since 2016 can be held next year.
The council was formed to replace the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was forced to step down amid a gang conflict that has killed thousands and forced over 700,000 people from their homes.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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