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Jovenel Moïse nominated Jean Henry Céant as prime minister of Haiti

Jovenel Moïse nominated Jean Henry Céant as prime minister of Haiti

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse nominated the two-time presidential candidate Jean Henry Céant, leader of the political party Renmen Ayiti (Love Haiti), to be his next prime minister.

On Sunday, August 5, 2018, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse following a two-day consultation with the presidents of the two branches of parliament, and many sectors of the society in 3 earlier weeks, nominated Jean Henry Céant (61) to be his next prime minister. Jean Henry Céant, a leader of the Renmen Ayiti (Love Haiti) party was two-time presidential candidate in 2010 and 2016 .The announcement came three weeks after the former Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned amid violent and deadly protests sparked by a proposed plan to significantly raise fuel prices.

Jean-Henry Céant was born on September 27, 1956 in Goureau, a district in the Croix-des-Missions, at the commune of Tabarre (Haiti). Céant has a genial personality. A one-time notary by profession and former presidential candidate, but is known to many Haitians as a "land thief" (volè tè) for his conduct as a notary. It is a common practice in Haiti that the notaries, a cross between accountant and lawyer, instead of safeguarding the titles to their clients' land, manipulate them for own benefit. Céant is also remembered for his alleged involvement as notaire helping former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to purchase land in the Port-au-Prince suburb Tabarre for his residence and the Aristide Foundation for Democracy and its university (UNIFA).

Jean Henry Céant has a controversial background. Former Ambassador Kenneth Merten (who now heads the U.S. State Department's Haiti Desk) described Céant in Wikileaks as "Aristide's notary and a personal friend. An early supporter of Aristide, and is thought to have helped Aristide in meeting property ownership requirements so he could run for President. Céant's wealth went up significantly after his ties with Aristide."

Henriot Dorcent, a Haitian political analyst described him as an "opportunist." "Under the dictatorship of Gen. Prosper Avril, he worked closely with lawyer Réné Julien, who was Céant's mentor and Avril's cousin But when the political winds shifted, he joined Aristide and the Lavalas, acting as Aristide's notaire and managed jobs for his wife as Aristide's private secretary and his brother in CONATEL. Then he jumped into the Martelly camp. When Jovenel came to power, he jumped to Jovenel's defence to save him from money-laundering scam through his business Agritrans.

Read more about prime minister, jean henry ceant, haiti prime minister, haiti next prime minister, new prime minister, Jovenel Moïse, Politic

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