New leader takes over Haiti’s transitional presidential council marred by corruption allegations

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A new leader was sworn in for Haiti’s transitional presidential council on Monday as it grapples with the fallout of serious corruption allegations against three of its members.

Leslie Voltaire replaces Edgard Leblanc Fils in the rotating presidency of the council, which was created this year after targeted gang attacks forced Haiti’s former prime minister to resign, leaving the country without a leader.

In a brief speech, Voltaire pledged transparency and noted that much work remains to be done in a country in the grip of rampant gang violence.

“We are not satisfied with the security situation,” he said. “We are working to reestablish security throughout the whole country.”

He asked for a minute of silence for the more than 70 people killed Thursday by gang members in Pont-Sondé, a small town in central Haiti. It is that region’s biggest massacre in recent history.

The transitional presidential council works alongside new Prime Minister Garry Conille and is responsible for helping run the country and organizing general elections by February 2026.

Voltaire takes over the council less than a week after an anti-corruption agency accused three of its members of demanding more than $750,000 from the director of the government-owned National Bank of Credit to secure his job.

Smith Augustin, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Louis Gérald Gilles have denied the allegations. All three were present during Monday’s swearing-in and declined to comment afterward.

Voltaire did not take questions after his speech.

In a brief statement Friday, the council acknowledged the report accusing the three members of corruption and said it would immediately take all measures to guarantee the stability of the state. It also signed a resolution modifying the rotating presidency, which Leblanc, the council’s former president, rejected, saying the corruption allegations had not been resolved.

Le Nouvelliste newspaper reported that Augustin was supposed to succeed Leblanc but was removed from the rotating presidency, as was Gilles.

Gilles and Vertilaire have said they would not step down from the council, according to the newspaper.