Martelly taps business leader as PM

Haiti's new president wants a business leader to serve as his prime minister, a government official said Sunday.

The official announcement that President Michel Martelly wants Daniel-Gerard Rouzier to be the country's No 2 official, comes one day after Martelly, a charismatic pop star known as 'Sweet Micky', was sworn in as Haiti's next leader in back-to-back ceremonies at a makeshift Parliament and on the lawn of the National Palace, which collapsed in last year's crippling earthquake.

Parliament must still ratify Rouzier to the post.

Also Sunday, an adviser to current Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said Bellerive had submitted his resignation to make room for his successor.

Bellerive, who also co-chairs Haiti's reconstruction commission with former US President Bill Clinton, will stay in the job until the new head of government is ratified, his special adviser, Alice Blanchet, told The Associated Press.

The new prime minister will also serve as co-chair of Haiti's Interim Recovery Commission, whose mandate is due to expire in October.

The body has been criticised for not doing enough to house and help survivors of the January 2010 earthquake that claimed 300,000 lives and displaced two. million others.

Martelly's chief-of-staff Thierry Mayard-Paul said Sunday that Martelly picked Rouzier as his choice for prime minister because of his record as an established entrepreneur.

Rouzier, an adviser to Martelly, is general manager of Sun Auto, a car dealership, president of E-Power, an electric power project, and involved with Food For the Poor, a charity based in Coconut Creek, Florida.

Rouzier, a political novice, reportedly accompanied Martelly to Washington, DC, when he met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and heads of international financial institutions.

- AP