UNITED NATIONS development specialist Garry Conille was named Haiti’s new prime minister on Tuesday evening.

The appointment comes nearly a month after a coalition within a fractured transitional council sought to choose someone else for the position.

The long-awaited move comes as gangs continue to terrorise the capital of Port-au-Prince, opening fire in once peaceful neighbourhoods and using heavy machinery to demolish several police stations and prisons.

Council member Louis Gerald Gilles said six out of seven council members with voting power chose Mr Conille. He said one member, Laurent St Cyr, was not in Haiti and therefore did not vote.

Mr Conille has been Unicef’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean since January 2023 and previously served as Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then president Michel Martelly. 

He resigned following clashes with the president and his cabinet over an investigation into government officials who have dual nationality, which is not allowed by Haiti’s constitution.

Mr Conille replaces Michel Patrick Boisvert, who was named interim prime minister after Ariel Henry resigned in late April. Mr Boisvert stepped down after complaints over the process used to choose him for the role.

Mr Henry was on an official trip to Kenya earlier this year when a coalition of gangs seized control of police stations and stormed the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

He was locked out of the country by the attacks, with the airport in the Port-au-Prince capital remaining shuttered for nearly three months.

Gang violence is still surging in parts of Haiti’s capital and beyond as Mr Conille takes over the helm of the troubled Caribbean country awaiting the controversial United States funded deployment of a police force from Kenya and other countries.

Mr Conille could not be immediately reached for comment but Unicef said in a brief statement that he was stepping down from his role as regional director: “We are working closely with Garry to ensure a smooth transition at this time.”

The drawn-out process has been criticised by many, including the Montana Accord, a Haitian civil society group that has a representative on the council.

The group accused the council on Tuesday of not being transparent while choosing a new prime minister, saying it did not publicly share the criteria used or the names submitted, among other things.

In addition to picking a new prime minister, the council is also responsible for selecting a new cabinet and holding general elections by the end of next year.