UN urges quick Haiti government formation

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- United Nations officials Friday urged swift installation of a new government in Haiti where the prime minister was removed from office, authorities say.

Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis was censured by Haiti's Senate and ousted early Friday after little more than a year in office.

Under the Haitian Constitution, the prime minister is appointed by the president, who is elected by popular vote. President Rene Preval has designated Jean Max Bellerive to be the new prime minister, The New York Times reported Friday.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the impoverished Caribbean country appealed for cooperation in ensuring stability and in quickly getting a new government in place.

"Only such an approach will permit the consolidation of stability and the full availing of the real opportunities for progress that exist today, setting Haiti on the path of lasting development," the mission -- known by its French acronym MINUSTAH -- said.

MINUSTAH has been in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, since the middle of 2004 after then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile after violent unrest.