Haiti Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph to Give Up Post

Haiti's Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has agreed to step down and hand over power to a political challenger to stabilize the nation after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Mathias Pierre, Haiti's elections minister, said that Joseph forms part of a broad political agreement urged by the U.S. and other nations to bring stability, according to The Wall Street Journal report.

Ariel Henry is set to replace Joseph. Henry is a neurosurgeon who was appointed Haiti's prime minister shortly before the president was assassinated.

Joseph will become Henry's foreign minister in his cabinet, while other cabinet appointments are still under negotiation.

Power Grab in Haiti

Joseph served as acting prime minister before Henry's appointment. He was also the foreign minister under Moise's presidency.

However, he had refused to recognize Henry as the designated prime minister, saying that Henry had not been sworn in at the time of the president's killing, according to an Aljazeera report.

Joseph said he talked to Henry and they agreed that he would be out of the position for the good of the nation.

Joseph said that everyone who knows him will know that he is not interested in this kind of battle. He noted his friendship with the president and added that he is interested in seeking justice for Moise.

Israel Jacky Cantave, the foreign ministry senior official, said that Joseph would give the position to Henry, possibly on Tuesday.

Pierre said that it was part of the plan and wishes of Moise that Henry should lead a new coalition to be prime minister and form a new government, according to an NPR report.

Henry called for political unity and said he would soon announce a consensus government that would lead the country until elections can be held to elect a new president. He also wished for a quick recovery for Moise's wife, Martine, who survived the attack and returned to Haiti on a private jet.

Henry assured that those responsible for the assassination will be put before the law.

President Jovenel Moise Assassination Suspects

Police arrested someone they deem a key suspect in the assassination of Moise.

The suspect was a doctor and identified as Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 63-year-old Haitian. He flew into the country on a private jet in early June with alleged political motives.

Moise was killed at his home by 28 foreign mercenaries, according to a BBC News report.

Martin described the way her husband was killed during the assassination. She said that assassins riddled her husband with bullets.

Haiti's police chief Leon Charles said that Sanon's initial plan was to arrest Moise. However, it did change.

Charles said that when they caught the suspect after they committed the crime, the first person that one of the assailants called was Sanon.

The police chief also noted that the assailant contacted two other people that they considered to be masterminds. However, the police did not name the other two people that the assailant called.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Interim Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph to step down - from Al Jazeera English