Haiti Close To Getting A New PM

CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, N.Y., Fri. July 18, 2008: ...

Haiti`s lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, approved <Education professor Michele> Pierre-Louis` candidacy on Thursday after a tense couple of weeks, during which observers wondered if the chamber would reject Pierre-Louis, the third prime minister nominee picked by Haitian President Rene Preval.

Haiti`s government has been in limbo since April, when Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis was forced to resign following deadly riots over the rising cost of food. The political stalemate saw a worsening of the food crisis and crime.

Pierre-Louis, 61, had been a member of ousted Prime Minister Jean Bertrand Aristide`s cabinet. She`s a longtime acquaintance of Preval and has been, since 1995, the executive director Knowledge and Freedom Foundation (FOKAL), a non-profit that promotes education and reading programs in Haiti. Pierre-Louis is an educational sciences professor at Quisqueya University.

Haiti`s senate now has to ratify Pierre-Louis` appointment. They`re expected to do that next week.

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