Haiti premier set to quit: President

Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe is prepared to step down amid mounting street protests regarding the long-delayed elections, the president says.

“The prime minister is ready to resign,” Michel Martelly said in a national address from the presidential palace on Friday.

“I acknowledge this decision he is making to help find a solution to the crisis. I commend him for his courage and determination to help Haiti,” Martelly added.

The remarks came following recommendations of an advisory commission appointed to resolve the nation’s political crisis over a failure to hold parliamentary elections during the past three years.

The resignation of the head of the Supreme Court and the interim electoral council, as well as the release of political prisoners were among other proposals of the committee.

During his Friday address, Martelly announced his determination to quickly implement the commission’s suggestions.

Haiti has suffered from a political crisis over the last three years due to the failure to hold elections.

If the country does not hold elections by January 12, parliament will be dissolved and Martelly will be able to rule by decree.

On Friday, police forces and United Nations peacekeepers clashed with thousands of anti-government demonstrators who tried to march on the presidential palace in the Haitian capital city of Port-au-Prince.

According to figures by the World Bank, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with about 80 percent of its rural population living in poverty.