Haiti president’s 2nd choice for PM announced

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (RP) — Haitian President Michel Martelly has chosen a former justice minister as his nominee for prime minister in his second attempt to fill the position, a government official said Wednesday.

Bernard Gousse was chosen in the hopes that his experience and reputation as a prominent attorney will overcome opposition from lawmakers who rejected the president’s first candidate for the post, businessman Daniel-Gerard Rouzier, said Martelly’s chief of staff, Thierry Mayard-Paul.

“He’s an honest man. He has experience in public administration,” Mayard-Paul told The Associated Press. “We believe that Mr. Gousse can drive this country out of its turmoil.”

The nominee still may face a challenge winning approval from a Senate and Chamber of Deputies dominated by the opposition Unity party of former President Rene Preval.

Gousse served as justice minister under the interim government that was formed after the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Critics accused him of persecuting supporters of Aristide, who returned to Haiti in March and remains a popular figure in the impoverished country.

Unity party Deputy Patrick Joseph said Gousse would be rejected. “The choice is a bad choice,” he said. “He won’t be ratified.”

In Martelly’s first major political setback, lawmakers last month overwhelmingly rejected Rouzier. The absence of a prime minister has left the government in limbo.

Martelly told reporters in St. Kitts on Friday that he had been considering Gousse along with current Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, and Jean Henry Ceant, who was among the candidates in November’s first round of the presidential election. He met with lawmakers in an attempt to avoid another defeat.