Only Henry can sign off on Haiti’s transitional council, embattled PM’s office tells CNN

Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry says his country’s constitution states that only he and his cabinet can appoint a council for the transition of power, Henry’s office told CNN exclusively on Wednesday.

Haiti’s embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry says his country’s constitution states that only he and his cabinet can appoint a council for the transition of power, Henry’s office told CNN exclusively on Wednesday. After a meeting of regional Caribbean leaders on Monday, Henry agreed to leave power once a transitional council had been set up to lay the foundations for future elections, following weeks of violence in Haiti where social order has all but collapsed. But Henry’s office told CNN that only he and his cabinet can appoint the transitional council and will not simply “deliver the country” to new leaders without following constitutional procedures. “According to the Haitian constitution, only the prime minister with the cabinet can appoint the presenting council. Yes, the PM expresses his patriotic intentions to resign with his cabinet, but we have to do this in order,” special adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Henry, Jean Junior Joseph, told CNN in an exclusive statement. “We will not deliver the country to just a group of people without following the procedure. We are in crisis as a country, but we must stay inside of the law and set a good example,” he added. Henry’s office said Article 149 of Haiti’s constitution states that once the president is not available, only the ministerial cabinet possesses powers to make decisions in his absence.