As political parties appeared to be getting closer to appointing a transition council to replace an absent government, attacks in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, increased on Thursday. Among them was a shootout that resulted in the death of another gang leader.
Police and sources confirmed that Ernst Julme, also known as Ti Greg, the leader of the Delmas 95 gang, was killed in a police operation one day after another gang leader was killed in what appeared to be a revival of a vigilante justice movement.
Julme was a part of the "Viv Ansanm" alliance led by gang leader Jimmy "Barbeque" Cherizier, and his passing represents a setback for the gangs' attempts to expand their control throughout the city. Julme had just pulled off a mass jailbreak from the biggest prison in Haiti.
According to a U.N. spokesperson, political organizations have chosen every member of a transitional council that will take on presidential duties before upcoming elections. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauded this news.
The council's task is to choose a successor for de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who announced his resignation on March 11 due to gang violence preventing him from entering the country. The council's goal is to unite Haiti's fractured political class.
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Additionally, the council will exercise some presidential authority until elections can be held.
"The Secretary-General welcomes reports that Haitian stakeholders have all nominated representatives to the Transitional Presidential Council," deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a press briefing.
The intergovernmental Caribbean Community (CARICOM) mediated the transition plan in Jamaica, together with representatives of Haiti's government and opposition. CARICOM made public a list of political parties that will have representatives in the council.
After Henry resigned, the nine-member council was supposed to be finalized in a few days. Still, some political factions in Haiti could not come together behind a single representative.
A party that had initially opposed the plan completely later changed its mind, and organizations that had not been included in it objected to the reappointment of corrupt politicians from earlier administrations. 
If politicians participate in the proposed council, Cherizier has threatened to retaliate against them and their families.
