Claude Joseph, the prime minister who took leadership of Haiti’s government when President Jovenel Mose was assassinated earlier this month, is stepping down, the country’s elections minister said in a text message Monday.
Since the killing of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on July 7, Haitian politicians have fought for control of the country. Mr. Joseph was supposed to be replaced the week of the assassination, but Ariel Henry, the newly designated prime minister, had not yet been sworn in. Both asserted themselves to be the rightful prime ministers of their respective countries.
The remaining members of the Senate agreed that the Senate president should lead the country, initiating a fractious debate over who should be in charge. Mr. Joseph’s decision to rule the country and impose a state of siege following the assassination was dubbed a coup by at least one lawmaker.
The political impasse was exacerbated by the fact that many of the country’s democratic institutions had been weakened during Mr. Mose’s tenure in government. Because the tenure of the other 20 senators had expired and elections to replace them had not been held, only 10 senators remained out of a total of 30. Mr. Mose was able to rule by decree for more than a year before being assassinated because the lower house was completely vacant when their tenure expired last year.
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