PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A new Haitian government lead by Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe officially began its duties May 16, capping a months-long political vacuum.

President Michel Martelly, in office for a year, had lacked a cabinet chief since Garry Connille resigned in February.

Lamothe, 39, says he is basing his government policies on fighting extreme poverty and protecting the environment.

“I am asking the government team to get to work immediately in order to satisfy the population and improve its living conditions,” he said.

Immediately after the inauguration, Lamothe and Martelly led the first cabinet meeting held at the presidential palace – most of it destroyed in a devastating January 2010 earthquake.

“Each ministry must have a website and a constant presence on social networks in order to lead transparently and to inform the population of decisions,” said the prime minister, who is rarely seen without a tablet computer.

“All of my cabinet ministers will share information via Twitter, Facebook and the Internet,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

There are 22 ministers, including seven women, sitting on the new cabinet.

[AFP, 17/05/2012; Univision.com, 17/05/2012]