PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Michel Martelly says he is confident lawmakers will approve his second pick for prime minister even though more than half the senators have asked him to pick someone else.
Martelly insists he has the backing of “about” 18 of the 30 senators for his nomination of former justice minister Bernard Gousse.
Yet, 16 senators have signed a petition asking Martelly to rescind his nomination. They are troubled by Gousse’s stint as justice minister under the interim government that took office in 2004 after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted. Advocacy groups accused Gousse of persecuting Aristide supporters.
Martelly spoke Saturday evening just after returning from a three-day trip to Spain to court investors.
