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OAS WELCOMES SENATE CONFIRMATION OF NEW HAITI PRIME MINISTER

  August 1, 2008

The Organization of American States (OAS) is hailing the Senate ratification of economist Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis as Haiti’s new prime minister. Twelve of the eighteen senators voted to support Pierre- Louis’ appointment, with five abstaining, in the Senate vote on Thursday, July 31.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, expressing his satisfaction with the ratification of Ms. Pierre-Louis, said, “We will continue to work with the government of President René Préval and his new Prime Minister, and hope that this opens a period of enhanced stability, progress and cooperation for Haiti and its people.”

Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin, Chairman of the Haiti Task Force, meanwhile hailed the Senate move to confirm the new Prime Minister as “a positive development which will allow for even more effective support from the OAS and the international community in general towards Haiti.”

Michèle Pierre-Louis heads up a foundation that provides libraries, youth education programs and women’s networks in Haiti, and her confirmation as Haiti’s next prime minister ends an impasse of more than three months. She succeeds Jacques-Édouard Alexis who stepped down in the wake of violent demonstrations over food price.

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Reference: E-301/08