Haiti's Senate Appoints Interim Head of State

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At dawn on Saturday, Haiti's local media reported that the Senate announced Speaker of the House Joseph Lambert as interim president of the country, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Lambert will be sworn in before Parliament after the majority of senators voted in his favor on Friday.

Before that, several political parties, including the ruling party "PHTK", had called for the appointment of Joseph Lambert as interim president.

Before Lambert's appointment, Prime Minister Claude Joseph was performing the duties of head of state following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in an armed attack on his residence last Wednesday.

If the president stops performing his duties, the Haitian constitution dictates that Parliament must elect an interim head of state no later than 60 days afterward. Then, the Head of Government assumes the duties of Head of State.

The Haitian authorities had confirmed earlier that they intend to hold general elections and a referendum on the new constitution in September.

On the other hand, the Haitian government has asked Washington and the United Nations to send troops to the Caribbean island to help secure strategic sites and infrastructure for fear of sabotage, according to the Minister in charge of Electoral Affairs Mathias Pierre.

The Perpetrators

The Haitian police announced two days ago that the armed commando responsible for the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise consists of 26 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin.

In parallel, the Taiwanese embassy in Haiti announced the arrest of 11 suspects at its headquarters, after allowing the police to conduct a search and detain them.