PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) — A group of Haitian lawmakers called on Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis late Wednesday to resign to make way for a new government as ongoing food protests rock the island, one of them said.
"We have written to Mr Alexis and we have advised him to resign in the next 48 hours," senior senator Andris Riche told AFP.
"It is not an ultimatum, its advice," he added, although another senator who signed the letter, Hyppolite Melius, said Alexis could be forced out.
Riche said a majority of Haiti's senators supported the letter, which was signed after a meeting at a "secret location" in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Their call comes after fresh violence broke out during demonstrations over high food prices.
UN peacekeepers were forced to intervene for the second day in a row, pushing back protesters trying to reach the presidential palace using tear gas and firing in the air, radio reporters said.
It was not immediately known if there were any casualties on Wednesday. According to an unofficial count, five people have been killed by gunfire and about 40 have been wounded since the unrest erupted on Thursday.
Preval said in a televised address that he had ordered Haitian police and UN soldiers to "put an end to the looting," but also urged calm and said he would meet with food importers to try to lower the prices of basic goods.
He also addressed concerns about the government, which was formed in 2006 after more than two years of turmoil sparked by the departure of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
"After the elections, we formed a government that brought us stability," Preval said.
"Today, we can reflect on how to open political participation in the government in general. It is also the moment to evaluate the work of the current government."
Senator Hyppolite Melius warned that if the prime minister did not leave voluntarily, he could be forced out of his job.
"We have heard the president, but he has not convinced us. He (Alexis) must leave to put an end to the demonstrations and the looting which is discouraging investment," he said.
Thousands have been demonstrating since Thursday in the capital of the impoverished Caribbean nation, after a sudden jump in fuel and basic food commodity prices.
The rice price has doubled from 35 dollars to 70 dollars for a 120-pound sack, and gasoline has seen its third price hike in less than two months.
The US State Department announced it had suspended the operations of its embassy until the violence subsides in the poorest country in the Americas.
"We suspended embassy operations for today because of some of the violence and demonstrations that's taken place in Haiti," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"We fully hope and expect that over time those demonstrations will dissipate and we will get back to a situation where we can continue normal embassy operations."
Port-au-Prince was paralyzed again Wednesday while several stores were ransacked by protestors armed with clubs, some holding guns, witnesses said.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon appealed for calm and "urges all demonstrators to refrain from any further acts of violence," his press office said.
He also deplored attacks against the personnel and facilities of the 10,000-strong UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) as well as against the Haitian government and private property.
Group of youths had again erected barricades of old tires in different areas of the capital Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, an AFP journalist saw.
"We are trying to control the situation. Our police are putting out fires lit in the barricades which are blocking the roads," police spokesman Frantz Lerebours said. "We will punish the pillagers."
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