Leaders in Haiti are looking for a new prime minister as the Caribbean nation tries to recover from a week of deadly food riots.

Jacques Edouard Alexis (file photo)

Haitian lawmakers dismissed Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis on April 12, saying he had not done enough to improve the economy or to keep soaring food prices under control.

President Rene Preval must now nominate a successor. There is no word on how soon an announcement could come, but one lawmaker, Senator Youri Latortue, tells the Associated Press the parliament would be ready to consider nominees as early as Monday.

Six people have been killed in Haiti during violent protests against the high cost of food. The victims include a United Nations peacekeeper from Nigeria who was shot and killed in the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Mr. Preval has already announced subsidies to help lower the price of rice, perhaps by as much as 15 percent.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets last week to protest high food prices, clashing with peacekeepers at the National Palace.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has a history of political turnover.

Some information for this report was provided by and Reuters.