PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP)— A governing council tasked with filling a leadership vacuum in Haiti and restoring a semblance of order was formally established Friday in the Caribbean nation, which has been rocked by an explosion of gang violence.

A decree in Haiti’s official gazette “Le Moniteur” announced the council’s formation, a month after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would step down amid a wave of attacks by armed gangs in the capital.

The Friday announcement, which had been delayed for weeks by political squabbling, is a hopeful step in efforts to establish conditions for deployment of a UN-approved international police force, which Kenya has agreed to lead.

The decree tasks the council with “rapidly” appointing a new prime minister and a government “inclusive” of Haiti’s various political factions.

Crucially, the formation of the US-backed council is also a first step toward holding a presidential election by early 2026.

However, questions remain over whether the interim government — dubbed a Presidential Transitional Council — will be able to impose its authority over the gangs that control much of Port-au-Prince.

“The Presidential Transition Council exercises specific presidential powers during the transition period until the investiture of the elected President, which must take place no later than February 7, 2026,” the decree on Friday said.

Haiti has not held elections since 2016 and has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021.

Henry was in Kenya in February, trying to organise the international police force deployment, when gangs launched a coordinated attack and demanded the 74-year-old’s resignation.

Some 4,000 inmates were released in gang raids on Haiti’s two biggest prisons. Police stations came under assault and attacks on the country’s airport resulted in Haiti being largely cut off from the outside world.

Countries including the United States and EU members evacuated their diplomats and nationals as security conditions worsened.

UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, warned that serious hunger and malnutrition were taking hold in Haiti, which has struggled to recover from a 2010 earthquake which saw an estimated 220,000 people killed.

After intense US and regional pressure, Henry agreed to step aside and facilitate the formation of the transitional council. He had been Haiti’s unelected leader since 2021, when he was appointed by then-president Moise.

Under the text, Henry will formally resign following the council’s appointment of a new prime minister.

The Caribbean regional body Caribbean Community (Caricom), which has played a high-profile role in efforts to create the transitional council, said it “signals the possibility of a new beginning for Haiti.”

The United Nations’ Haiti office said it would “continue to closely follow the Haitian political process,” adding that “international support for Haiti’s national police remains essential for restoring security and the rule of law.”