PORT-AU-PRINCE – President Michel Martelly has named former Justice Minister Bernard Gousse as his choice for prime minister, less than two weeks after lawmakers rejected his first nominee.
Presidential chief of staff Thierry Mayard-Paul said that Martelly believes that Gousse’s experience and reputation will help him win approval from the Senate and Chamber of Deputies who had earlier rejected businessman Daniel-Gerard Rouzier.
Gousse was justice minister under the interim government that took power in 2004 after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted.
Last week, as he attended his inaugural Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit in St Kitts, Martelly told reporters that most of the people in the present government belonged to the administration of former president René Preval and that until his nominee for prime minister was ratified they would be in power.
“I have no power over these ministers, whether I am in the country or not, “ he said, adding: “I have my vision. It needs to be put into application by a government, and the first thing to do, which I have been doing, is to stay focus, and the first day they rejected my nominee, the next day I had 10 more names.” (CMC)
