Haitian Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said on Wednesday during his first public appearance since his appointment by presidential decree that he would focus on fighting insecurity and inequality while boosting the economy.
Jouthe, a trained civil engineer who was appointed this week by Haitian President Jovenel Moise, is an experienced policymaker.
Jouthe was minister for the environment and interim minister of finance, and also worked for humanitarian agencies.
Photo: Reuters
“We’re living today in a very precarious socioeconomic situation which could lead at any time to a humanitarian disaster; our country is in agony,” he said.
“My government reiterates its commitment to continue working to improve public finances in order to increase gross domestic product, reduce inflation, increase public revenues and, above all, fight corruption,” he said.
The prime minister called on Haitians, the divided political class and international organizations to stand by him at a time of economic crisis.
The US embassy in Haiti said in a statement it would work with Moise and Jouthe, but urged them to improve security and economic growth, and organize “free, fair and credible legislative elections as soon as technically feasible.”
The economic repercussions of a three-month countrywide lockdown are still unfolding in what was already the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, where about two-thirds of adults are estimated to be unemployed or underemployed.
Moise has been ruling Haiti by decree since January, because the mandates of lower house deputies and most senators formally expired when no elections were held.
Jouthe replaced Jean Michel Lapin, who was acting prime minister since Moise appointed him in March last year until his resignation in July.
Despite several attempts, his appointment was never approved.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
CORRUPTION PROBE: ‘I apologize for causing concern to the people, even though I am someone insignificant,’ Kim Keon-hee said ahead of questioning by prosecutors The wife of South Korea’s ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday was questioned by a special prosecutor as investigators expanded a probe into suspicions of stock manipulation, bribery and interference in political party nominations. The investigation into Kim Keon-hee is one of three separate special prosecutor probes launched by the government targeting the presidency of Yoon, who was removed from office in April and rearrested last month over his brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3 last year. The incident came during a seemingly routine standoff with the opposition, who he described as “anti-state” forces abusing their legislative majority to obstruct
RSS