Former PM dies

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CMC):

Smarck Michel, a businessman who served for almost a year as Haiti's prime minister in the mid-1990s, died Saturday. He was 75. Michel was appointed prime minister in 1994, one month after Jean Bertrand Aristide resumed the presidency after three years in exile.

Michel resigned almost a year later over opposition to his economic reforms, which advocated a privatisation plan that was unpopular with Haiti's poor majority.

After his brief stint in politics, Michel returned full-time to the family grocery store until he closed it in 2010 and retired. Meanwhile, Haiti's President, Michel Martelly, and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe are saddened by the passing of the former prime minister.

"In this painful circumstance, the head of state, on behalf of the Haitian people, salute the departure of Michel and address its sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased," said Martelly.

The prime minister sent sympathies to the family and friends of the former Head of Government who has served his country with patriotism.