PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti — Bowing to pressure, Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe has resigned, paving the way for a new government to lead the country into long overdue legislative and local elections.
Lamothe said he was making the sacrifice for Haiti because the country not only needs development but also political stability to advance.
“Despite all of these accomplishments, if this is what can truly unblock the political crisis, I’ve decided,” he said, “to hand President Martelly my resignation and that of the entire government.”
The resignation came on yet another day of tense anti-government protests. In Port-au-Prince, protesters accused police of killing an unarmed demonstrator who had a visible bullet wound in his chest.
Police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said “no one died in today’s protests. ” He said an investigation has been launched into the death of the unidentified man, but it looked like people “put the body there.”
The protests took place despite President Michel Martelly announcing Friday that he would accept Lamothe’s offer to resign as part of a series of far-reaching “calming” measures recommended by a presidential commission to quell rising political tensions.
But with no timetable on Lamothe’s resignation, opponents believed Martelly would try to outsmart them and took to the streets Saturday demanding both his and Lamothe’s resignations. Opponents accuse Martelly of delaying the vote so that he could rule by decree on Jan. 12, making it easier for Lamothe to become a presidential contender in next year’s presidential elections.
“Michel Martelly has allowed the crisis to rot and degenerate by not doing what he should have done months ago,” said Volcy Assad, a protest organizer, referring to the delayed local and legislative elections.
But his criticisms weren’t just about Martelly, who has accused opposition senators of blocking the vote of an electoral law needed to schedule the balloting. Assad and others criticized the U.S. support of Martelly while waving photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin and singing, “Long Live Putin, Down with Obama.”
