Haitian President, Jovenel Moise, has been killed following an attack on his private quarters in the early hours of the day.
According to a statement released by the Nation’s Prime Minister – Claude Joseph, the 53-year-old Head of State suffered a fatal blow to the head after a group of unidentified individuals zeroed in on his residence at 1 a.m. The first lady was reportedly shot but is currently receiving treatment.
“A group of individuals who have not been identified, some of whom were speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the President of the Republic and fatally injured the Head of State,” He said. “The first lady was also shot but survived the attack,”
Although key details on the reason behind the attack remain unknown, locales believe the unfortunate incident was spurred by Moise’s doggedness and reluctance to step down earlier in the year – claiming his fifth year in office as a result of a delayed inauguration after allegations of voter fraud were brought up from the 2015 elections.
His demise also opens up a series of uncertainty on the Presidential succession after the Latin American country recently lost its Supreme Court President to Covid-19.
Furthermore, the acting Prime Minister, Joseph, will be unable to take the reigns since he is yet to secure approval from Haiti’s parliament; leaving the parliament effectively defunct.
During his time in office, Moise was regarded as a controversial leader and spent a large portion of his term at loggerheads with the opposition, due to the allegations surrounding his appointment into the presidency.
The Nation was also known to have suffered from an insecurity crisis; with the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince experiencing incessant violence and escalations in the past month.
Haiti has also been named as the poorest country in Latin America due to its major economic instability, with approximately 60% of its population leaving in poverty.