Haiti transition council names Edgard Leblanc as president, gangs demand seat at the table

Haiti's transition council on Tuesday (April 30) named Edgard Leblanc, the former senate president, to head the body instated last week as it seeks to bring security back to the violence-wracked Caribbean nation.

Leblanc's naming follows weeks of political deadlock and in-fighting following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry while an armed conflict surged in the capital, marking a difficult path ahead for the council.

The transitional body is formed by seven voting members and two non-voting observers. Leblanc won the nomination with four votes, including his own, in favour, though tensions were still evident in a ceremony announcing the decision.

The council also tapped Fritz Belizaire, former youth and sports minister, as prime minister.

Michel Patrick Boisvert, who served as finance minister under former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has been filling the role on an interim basis. Belizaire's nomination must be confirmed by a declaration in Haiti's national gazette.

Per Haiti's constitution, the country should elect a new president by Feb. 7, 2026.

Also read: Haiti PM Ariel Henry resigns as transitional council takes over amid gang violence

Some of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders are threatening more violence if they are not allowed political sway.

In an interview with CNN published on Monday, Vitel'homme Innocent, who heads the Kraze Barye gang and is accused of orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of U.S. missionaries, called for the council to listen to the gangs and find a resolution to the crisis "as soon as possible."

Kraze Barye forms part of a loose coalition of gangs known as Viv Ansanm, or "Live Together," who now control most of capital Port-au-Prince.

The coalition is demanding the future government grant them an amnesty for their crimes and create a plan for young gang members who may have been forced into joining, either under threat of violence or due to a lack of economic alternatives, Innocent told CNN.

Viv Ansanm's leader, a former police officer named Jimmy Cherizier who is known as "Barbeque," warned of consequences if the gangs were ignored, in a message shared to social media over the weekend.

"Viv Ansanm is ready to talk. It's either we are all at the table, or the table gets destroyed with all of us," he said.

According to U.N. estimates, more than one person was killed in Haiti gang violence every hour in the first three months of this year. There are also widespread reports of gangs using mass sexual violence, ransom kidnappings and torture to extort the population.

The gangs have expressed frustration with Haiti's ruling elite and had called for the resignation of Henry, who had been prime minister since 2021.

Henry became stranded outside the country after leaving to seek international support for a U.N.-backed security mission aimed at wresting back control from the gangs. He said in March he would step down once the council was in place.