New leader takes over Haiti’s transitional presidential council as violence persists

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The council tasked to prepare eventual presidential elections in Haiti swore in a new leader Friday, as the country keeps struggling with a persistent gang violence.

Fritz Alphonse Jean, an economist and former central bank governor, replaces Leslie Voltaire in the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council, formed in 2024 after a violent gang siege of the capital that forced then Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.

During a ceremony in Port-au-Prince, Jean described what Haiti is currently facing as a “war” and asked people to be united to address the security crisis.

“Our country is at war today,” he said. “We need to be united to win this battle.”

The transitional presidential council works with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and, amid its tasks, is helping run the country and organizing general elections, aimed for February 2026.

The country, and in particular the capital, face constant gang violence. The U.N. estimates that gangs already control 85% of Port-au-Prince.

That is despite the presence of a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan forces, which suffered a loss a few days ago in a fight with gang members.

The new leader of the transitional council asked for a minute of silence for the Haitian officers and the Kenyan police who have died facing the gangs.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed opening a U.N. office that would provide drones, fuel, ground and air transportation and other nonlethal support to the Kenyan-led mission.

More than 5,600 people were reported killed across Haiti in 2024, or 1,000 more deaths than reported the previous year, according to the U.N.