Au-Prince, Haiti, Oct 30, SPA --Haitian lawmakers ousted the prime minister today in a power struggle that threatens to undermine a campaign to attract foreign investment to the impoverished country, AP reported. Michele Pierre-Louis was removed when 18 of 29 senators voted for censure and dissolved the Cabinet. Most of the votes against the prime minister came from President Rene Preval"s own Lespwa movement, which took control of the Senate after winning June elections. The dispute appeared to be a struggle for power within Lespwa, though critics accused Pierre-Louis of failing to do enough to alleviate poverty. «She doesn"t have social and economic policies. It"s the Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank that are making economic decisions,» said Sen. Joseph Lambert. Pierre-Louis took office in September 2008 as Haiti was being pummeled by four tropical storms and hurricanes that killed nearly 800 people, left tens of thousands homeless and caused $1 billion in damage. An educator who headed the Haitian branch of George Soros" Open Society Institute, she filled a post that had been vacant for five months after senators dismissed her predecessor during riots over the high cost of food.
