Jovenel Moise sworn in as Haiti's president

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Jovenel Moise was sworn as Haiti's new president in a brief ceremony in Parliament Tuesday.

Journalists were kept behind a glass partition at the start of the ceremony, unable to hear the proceedings, but they pounded on the glass to disturb the event until they were allowed on the chamber floor, the Miami Herald reported.

The inauguration followed a two-year election cycle of challenges to the process. Former President Michel Martelly and interim President Jocelerme Privert were present at the ceremony. Martelly chose the previously unknown Moise, 48, a businessman dealing in bananas and auto parts, to succeed him as president. Moise, the Bald Heads Party candidate, won 56 percent of the vote in November's election.

Moise faces accusations of money laundering, and gave testimony to an investigative judge in January. Government prosecutor Danton Leger ordered the judge to begin another investigation with an interview with the new president's wife, Marie Martin Moise.

Four Haitian senators boycotted the inauguration, angered that the investigation of Moise was not resolved. Several countries sent delegations to the event; the United States was represented by Thomas Shannon, undersecretary of state for political affairs; Peter Mulrean, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, and Omarosa Manigault, assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump.