Haitian
legislators gave preliminary approval Thursday for an
educator to be nominated as the country's second
female prime minister.
The Chamber of
Deputies voted 61 to 1 in favor of Michele Pierre-Louis,
with 37 members not voting. If her qualifications are
approved by the Senate, she will then face final votes
in both houses.
Two previous
nominees have been rejected since Prime Minister Jacques
Edouard Alexis was ousted after deadly food riots in April.
Debate on
Pierre-Louis's nomination has centered on rumors that she is
gay, and deputies spoke out on the parliament floor Thursday
against what many in the socially conservative nation
consider immorality. She has not commented on the
rumors.
Pierre-Louis, 61,
heads a branch of billionaire George Soros's private
Open Society Institute, which promotes social, political,
and economic reform. (AP)
