PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A formal ceremony to install Haiti's transitional ruling council will be held early Thursday, the prime minister's office said, as the violence-wracked nation moves to form an interim government.

The event will be held at the prime minister's office, known as Villa d'Accueil, in the Musseau neighborhood of the capital, according to a press invitation from the office.

With the installation of the new nine-member body, formally known as the Presidential Transition Council, Haiti moves a step closer to filling the leadership vacuum.

The Caribbean nation has been rocked by an explosion of violence since late February, when powerful gangs launched a wave of attacks in the capital and demanded Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation.

The United Nations says that out of a population of about 11.6 million, some 360,000 Haitians are internally displaced. The gang violence, according to UN experts, has forced 95,000 people to flee the capital and pushed five million into "acute hunger."

Henry, the country's unelected leader since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, agreed in mid-March to step aside and be replaced by the council, which is made up of seven voting members selected across Haiti's political spectrum and two non-voting observers.

Weeks of political infighting ensued and it was not until April 12 that the body was formally decreed in the official gazette "Le Moniteur."

It remains to be seen if the council will be able to reach a consensus on naming an interim prime minister and government, and questions have been raised over actions taken by outgoing officials viewed as delaying the transition.

The council has additionally been tasked with getting Haiti ready to hold elections for a new president by February 2026. The country has not held elections since 2016.

It is also unknown how the country's powerful gangs will respond to the new council, after voicing anger at their exclusion from transitional talks.

Gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, whose 1,000-member G9 alliance controls parts of Port-au-Prince, was among those excluded.

Last year, a UN-backed force led by Kenya was tasked with deploying to the country and helping its beleaguered police rein in criminal gangs.

But the force has yet to go to Haiti, even as humanitarian agencies plead for aid amid growing hunger, surging poverty and a lack of health care.

Henry was in Kenya in February trying to organize the deployment of the international force when gangs launched their coordinated attack.

Kenya then said it had put plans on deploying the force on hold until the transitional council was stood up.