Haiti’s newly installed transitional council has chosen former sports minister Fritz Belizaire as the country’s prime minister as it presses forward in its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence.

Mr Belizaire replaces Michel Patrick Boisvert, the former minister of economy and finance who was the current interim prime minister.

The nine-member transitional council, seven of whom have voting rights, is choosing a new prime minister and cabinet in a bid to help quell gang violence that is choking the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond.

Mr Belizaire had the support of four of the voting members.

After announcing his appointment, the council went back behind closed doors to discuss the cabinet.