By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 26 (Reuters) - Haitian President Rene Preval nominated his longtime friend and adviser Robert Manuel on Sunday to be prime minister of the impoverished Caribbean nation, where the previous government was toppled by food riots in April.

Preval named Manuel in a late-night meeting with the presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, the lower house in Haiti's parliament. Both chambers must vote on the nomination.

Preval's efforts to establish a stable democracy in Haiti were dealt a heavy blow when violent demonstrations erupted last month over the rapidly escalating cost of living in the poorest country in the Americas.

At least six people were killed in the protests, which spread from the southern city of Les Cayes to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and other towns and cities.

Shortly after the riots, the Senate fired then-Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis. Parliament rejected Preval's first nominee to replace Alexis, Inter-American Development Bank official Ericq Pierre, on May 12. (Editing by Jim Loney and Todd Eastham)

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