Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille resigns

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REPORTING FROM MEXICO CITY -- Haiti’s political instability deepened Friday with the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Garry Conille, who took the job less than five months ago.

Conille was reportedly under enormous pressure from President Michel Martelly to quit. The two clashed over numerous issues, including the handling of millions of dollars in contracts for repair of damage from the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake.

Conille, a gynecologist who also served on Bill Clinton’s Haiti reconstruction board, was Martelly’s third choice to head the government. The first two were rejected by Haiti’s Parliament. It was not yet clear who Martelly, a former pop singer, would nominate to replace Conille.

Haitians and others worried that Conille’s departure will create a political vacuum as the country continues to struggle to recover from the quake and emerge from endemic poverty.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti warned that political crisis threatened to ‘undermine the proper functioning of institutions and the democratic process’ (link in French).

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--Tracy Wilkinson