Gunfire was reported outside Haiti’s parliament building on Wednesday as rumours spread that a leading senator was to be sworn in as interim replacement for Jovenel Moïse, the president whose assassination in July plunged the Caribbean nation into turmoil.
Videos on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed gunmen outside the building in the capital Port-au-Prince, with the sound of shooting audible in the background.
“Gunfire could be heard near Haiti’s parliament this morning after news broke Lambert to be sworn in today to become country’s interim president,” reported HaitiInfoProj, a local media outlet, referring to senator Joseph Lambert.
He is one of three men who have staked a claim to either the job of president or prime minister since Moïse’s assassination. It was unclear on Wednesday whether the swearing in would take place.
The developments came a day after a senior Haitian prosecutor said there was enough evidence to charge prime minister Ariel Henry in connection with the assassination.
The prosecutor, Bed-Ford Claude, on Tuesday asked a judge to indict Henry and bar him from leaving the country. “There are enough compromising elements . . . to prosecute Henry and ask for his outright indictment,” Claude said.
Hours later the Haitian government confirmed Claude had been sacked, along with the justice minister and head of cabinet, in what looked like a settling of scores between rival factions. It was unclear if the three men were dismissed before or after Claude made his accusations. The dismissal letters, signed by Henry, were dated Monday September 13.
Henry was first named prime minister by Moïse on July 5, two days before he was killed in his home by a hit squad — unleashing serious infighting among the country’s longstanding political factions.
Foreign minister Claude Joseph assumed power as acting prime minister before ceding the position to Henry on July 20 under diplomatic pressure. The so-called Core Group — which includes representatives of several major powers including the US, UN and former colonial power France — said Henry should be given the job.
According to court documents that Claude sent to the judge, just hours after the assassination, Henry had two telephone conversations with Joseph Félix Badio, a former justice ministry official who has been named by Colombian police as a chief suspect in the assassination and is on the run.
The prosecutor said he had tried unsuccessfully to meet Henry so the prime minister could explain the calls, which were made between 4am and 4.30am on July 7, just hours after the assassination. The prosecutor said his evidence against Henry came from recordings of the calls.
More than 40 suspects have been arrested in the investigation into Moïse’s killing, including more than a dozen former Colombian soldiers, who are accused of being mercenaries. The police are still trying to trace other suspects, including Badio.
Moïse’s assassination plunged Haiti deeper into chaos as politicians, business leaders and powerful gang bosses vied for power amid spiralling violence and dire food and fuel shortages. Moïse’s widow accused her husband’s domestic opponents of organising the killing for political and business reasons.
Since the killing, southern Haiti has also been struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The country is still reeling from a far more devastating earthquake a decade ago that killed hundreds of thousands.