| Haiti President Offers New Prime Minister |
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by JACQUELINE CHARLES of The Miami Herald Pierre-Louis, a highly-respected educator who is considered a trailblazer in international circles because of her work on behalf of Haiti's poor and youths, has been tapped by Haitian President René Préval to become prime minister. She is the latest, and third choice for the job after Haitian lawmakers in the lower Chamber of Deputies rejected Préval's two previous choices: advisors Ericq Pierre, who works for the Inter-American Development Bank, and Robert Manuel, a close confidante of the president who is also a security expert.Pierre's nomination has been in the works ever since lawmakers failed to ratify Manuel, but Préval made it official on Monday evening when he officially notified the presidents of both the lower and upper chambers, sources familiar with the nomination confirmed. Haiti has been without a prime minister since April 12, when Haitian senators sent Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis packing following a week of deadly food riots in the impoverished Caribbean nation. Alexis and members of his government have served in a caretaker role since. A close friend of the president who doesn't come from a political base -- supporters say Pierre-Louis is independently-minded, a plus in a political formula where the prime minister is responsible to parliament. Still with a coalition of deputies in the chamber rejecting the two previous nominees, Pierre-Louis and Préval have their work cut out. Pierre-Louis currently serves as executive president of FOKAL, (Fondation Connaissance et Liberte (FOKAL) Open Society Institute Haiti or the Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty). FOKAL is an independent educational and cultural organization that is funded by philanthropist's George Soros, Open Society Institute. The group supports 35 community libraries throughout Haiti as well as arts and culture programming. It also supports water projects and grassroots initiatives. Her most ambitious projects to date is the restoration of Habitacion Leclerc, the home of famed American dancer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham. The house has fallen into disrepair and is in the midst of one of Haiti's most violent slums, Martissant.
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For years her name has been rumored as a potential prime ministerial candidate. But each time the job was available, Michèle Pierre-Louis never got the call -- until now.
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