PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti’s new prime minister, Garry Conille, was rushed to hospital on Saturday following “a slight illness” but was in a stable condition, a government statement said.

“After a week of intense activity,” Conille “suffered a slight illness on the afternoon of Saturday, 8 June 2024, and went to hospital for treatment,” the statement by the prime minister’s press office said late in the evening.

“His condition is currently stable,” it added.

A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agence France-Presse earlier that the prime minister had suffered an “asthma attack” and would possibly be transported out of the country for treatment.

Conille, 58, was appointed to the premiership by Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council on 29 May and was sworn in only on Monday.

A medical doctor by training, Conille had served as Haiti’s premier for a short period in 2011 to 2012, and was until recently regional director for United Nations aid agency Unicef.

The job before him is monumental: to relieve the political, security and humanitarian crises devastating the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and to pave the way for the first elections since 2016.

Since his appointment, he has been holding a series of meetings with stakeholders and representatives, while working with the Council on forming a cabinet.

The press office statement said Conille thanked the Presidential Councillors for visiting him in hospital and that he “welcomes the public’s expressions of affection.”