New Haiti Chief Pledges to Seek Full Democracy

Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy, leader of Haiti’s provisional government, promised Monday to work for a “genuine and functional democracy” with popular presidential elections.

Namphy called for a more just distribution of national wealth and for “absolute respect for human rights.”

In outlining the four-day-old government’s program, Namphy touched on many of the demands voiced in a wave of popular protests that led to the downfall Friday of President Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Nevertheless, some Haitians who opposed Duvalier have criticized the new government because many of its members were associated with the old regime.

5 Ex-Duvalier Officials

Namphy spoke at the installation Monday of a new Cabinet. Among the 13 ministers taking office were at least five who had been high officials under Duvalier.

Duvalier, 34, fled the country before dawn Friday, leaving power in the hands of a five-member military-led ruling council. Namphy, who was chief of staff of the armed forces under Duvalier, is president of that body.

Other members include two army colonels and a former Duvalier public works minister. A third colonel is the council’s adviser.

The only foe of the old regime on the council is Gerard Gourgue, 60, president of the Haitian Human Rights League. He has been appointed minister of justice.

Alix Cineas, a council member and minister without portfolio, was Duvalier’s last public works minister.

Marcel Leger, the new minister of finance and economy, was head of the central bank under Duvalier, and Odonel Fenestor, now commerce and industry minister, is a former director of the Tax Bureau in the Duvalier government.

Tax Man Evicted

On Monday morning, employees of the Tax Bureau threw out the director, Amos Durosier, and chased him into a police station across the street. They said he was a friend of Duvalier.

A Haitian journalist with Radio Lumiere, an independent station operated by Baptists, said Monday that the reaction of people to the new authorities is mixed.

“It is a government without Duvalier, but Duvalierism is still there,” said the journalist, who asked not to be identified by name. “People want to avoid sparking another fire, but to progressively eliminate Duvalierism.”

In decrees announced late Sunday, the new regime officially dissolved Duvalier’s rubber-stamp National Assembly, suspended his constitution and disbanded his hated political militia, known as the Tontons Macoutes.

The Cabinet installation took place in the all-white National Palace, which for nearly three decades was the headquarters of Duvalier and his father and predecessor as president, the late Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier.

During the ceremony, Haitians circulated on the avenue in front of the palace and milled around a square across the street. For more than two decades, that street had been closed to the public.

Elsewhere downtown Monday, most stores were open and traffic was normal. It was the first day of business since Duvalier’s departure, which set off a celebration and a three-day wave of mob action against militiamen and other Duvalier supporters.

Policemen and troops have used deadly force to keep order. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds injured in the violence, which gradually subsided Sunday and Monday.

A curfew remained in force, but it has been cut back to eight hours--from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The Francois Duvalier International Airport remained closed to scheduled commercial flights, although an Air Canada jumbo jet flew in to take out tourists, businessmen and others who had been stranded here.

‘Just Distribution of Wealth’

In his speech, Namphy called on Haitians to “cooperate for the establishment of a lasting peace and for the installation of democracy in the aftermath of the recent tragedy that threatened the integrity of the nation.” For “liberty to shine,” he said, there must be a “just distribution of the national wealth.”

Speaking for the government council, he went on: “We are going to work for the flowering of a genuine and functional democracy, founded on absolute respect for human rights, freedom of the press, the existence of free labor unions and the functioning of structured political parties.”

Under Duvalier, elections were rigged, human rights were frequently violated, the press was controlled, unions were severely limited and political parties were not permitted to function.

“We are aware,” Namphy said, “that the country aspires to the drafting of a liberal constitution, the reconstitution of a legislative power derived from free elections and presidential elections with universal and direct suffrage.”

He said that is the program of the new council, “anxious to return power to a democratically elected government.”

New Charter Expected

Sources said that a group of judges and lawyers will be empaneled to draft a new constitution.

The United States had brought pressure on Duvalier to make progress toward restoring democracy and respect for human rights. By law, U.S. foreign aid is conditioned on such progress. However, more than $50 million in economic aid has been delayed in the current fiscal year because the State Department has recently refused to certify that progress was being made.

A U.S. official in Port-au-Prince expressed approval Monday of the new government’s program, saying: “This is clearly our agenda. This is what we would like.”

As indications of the government’s intentions, the official cited official permission for radio stations to broadcast news and the issuance of official passes for reporters to move about freely while the curfew is in effect.

“The United States would look kindly on a resumption of aid,” the official said.