The Haitian parliament Tuesday rejected the nomination of Daniel-Gerard Rouzier to serve as prime minister, in a blow to new President Michel Martelly.
More than a month after Martelly took up the reins of power in the quake-hit Caribbean nation, Haiti still lacks a legitimate government, after prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive and his cabinet resigned.
Forty-two deputies voted against Rouzier’s nomination, most of them members of former president Rene Preval’s Unity Party, while 19 deputies voted for him and three abstained.
“We will write to the president to let him know the Chamber of Deputies has rejected Daniel-Gerard Rouzier’s nomination as prime minister, and ask him to nominate a new prime minister,” said speaker Saurel Jacinthe.
In debates before the vote, several deputies expressed concern that Rouzier was a businessman, pointing to a possible conflict of interest if he became prime minister.
Rouzier founded E-Power, a company that holds government contracts.
