President Michel Martelly has nominated the former mayor of Port-au-Prince, Evans Paul to be the next Prime Minister. Paul ran for President in 2006. He needs to be approved by the legislature by 12 January 2015. If this does not occur, Martelly will automatically become prime minister and will rule Haiti by decree, as all members of both houses will expire.
Last week Martelly appointed Florence Duperval Guillaume, who had served as public health minister, as interim Prime Minister
Evans will replace Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, who resigned on 14 December along with his cabinet amidst violent protests in the capital over the failure to hold the legislative elections.
Elections for a majority of Senate seats have been due since 2011.