Haitian lawmakers
ratified Michele Pierre-Louis to be the impoverished
country's prime minister on Thursday, ending more than three
months of political bickering and deadlock in
Parliament.
Haiti's senate
approved Pierre-Louis to be the country's number 2 leader
by a 12-0 vote, making her the second woman to become prime
minister of Haiti. There were five abstentions.
The decision ends
a stalemate that has left the Caribbean country unable
to sign foreign aid deals, arrange an international donors'
conference, or hold overdue elections for a third of
the nation's senate.
The deadlock
began when senators dismissed former prime minister Jacques
Edouard Alexis on April 12 after a week of riots over
soaring food prices left at least seven people dead
and destroyed hundreds of businesses.
Lawmakers
rejected President Rene Preval's first two nominees to
replace the premier and repeatedly delayed votes on
Pierre-Louis as they jockeyed for position in the next
cabinet.
Pierre-Louis, 61,
is an educator who heads a branch of billionaire George
Soros's Open Society Institute. She was ratified by the
Chamber of Deputies on July 17.
While political
wrangling went on behind the scenes, public debate on
Pierre-Louis's nomination centered on claims that she is
gay. Many in the socially conservative nation consider
homosexuality to be immoral, and clergy had denounced
her.
Pierre-Louis
denied the claims in a local radio interview on Wednesday.
''I have already said that it was slander and lies,'' she
told Radio Caraibes. (AP)
