Haiti Finds Itself on Rocky Road to Democracy : Critics Complain of Heavy-Handed Approach by Military-Led Government

After decades of dictatorship, Haiti is taking its first steps toward democracy, and the process is drawing more protests than cheers.

Many emerging political groups are complaining that the military-led provisional government is imposing heavy-handed controls on the transition, pushing through its version of democracy by decree.

Since July, the government has issued decrees to regulate two key democratic tools: political parties and the press. It has also decreed procedures and a date, Oct. 19, for election of representatives to an assembly that will draft a national constitution.

Some political organizers object to a requirement that a list of at least 5,000 members must be submitted for a party to be legally registered. Others maintain that no law regulating political parties should be adopted before a democratic constitution is in force.

News organizations are questioning language in the new press decree that they say may open the door to official controls over the media.

Commitment Doubted

And several political groups accuse the government of preparing to dominate the constituent assembly. The decree setting the Oct. 19 election date provides that 20 of the assembly’s 61 members will be appointed by the ruling National Government Council rather than elected by the public.

Some politicians argue that a more popular provisional government should take power before any constituent assembly is elected.

“The people do not think this government will hold free elections,” said Sylvia Claude, a Christian Democrat and one of several dozen self-proclaimed presidential candidates.

According to several Haitian analysts, the last reasonably free and fair elections in this impoverished Caribbean country were held in 1946, when voters chose members of a new congress.

In presidential elections held in 1957, the army manipulated the outcome in favor of Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier, a country doctor who was to prove less manageable than the voting results.

Duvalier quickly established a personal dictatorship, which he bequeathed in 1971 to his son, Jean-Claude, known as Baby Doc. The younger Duvalier gave up the presidency and fled the country last Feb. 7 after a series of bloody protests against his rule and widespread demands for democracy.

Army Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy, 54, has headed the provisional government since then. From the beginning of his tenure, Namphy has promised a transition to democracy.

In June, he announced a timetable that included enactment of laws on the press and parties in July, constituent assembly elections in October, a national referendum on a constitution in February, local elections next July, presidential and congressional elections in November, 1987, and the transfer of power on Feb. 7, 1988.

So far, Namphy has kept to the timetable. But with each step have come objections.

Andre Apaid, a prominent businessman, said ambitious politicians of the left and right want to derail the electoral process.

“These politicians don’t have a chance of being elected, so they have no interest in seeing free elections take place,” Apaid said.

Gregoire Eugene, a Social Democratic presidential hopeful, agreed in a separate interview that many politicians and activists who oppose the Oct. 19 elections are “preparing trouble.”

“All of them speak about democracy, but it is clear that they don’t want democracy at all, because they know they can’t come to power by a democratic process,” Eugene said.

Only one political party so far has submitted a list of 5,000 members as required for legal recognition. Many political groups are believed to lack the 5,000 members required to become a recognized party, but some groups say they will not submit their members’ names out of fear of persecution by authorities.

During the Duvalier dictatorship, political activity was so dangerous that only a few people openly proclaimed their party affiliations.

“We are not going to give them the list until they prove trustworthy,” said Jean Renelus, leader of a group called the Democratic Liberal Party.

Press Freedoms Restricted

Many objections to the new press decree also are based on distrust of government.

The law says that freedom of expression is guaranteed, but it lists among “press offenses” the publication of anything that “brings harm to good morals and to public order.”

Critics say that such a broad definition could be used to justify violations of press freedom.

Critics of the decree announcing the elections for a constituent assembly say the provisional government has no mandate for appointing 20 of the 61 members. The other 41 members are be to elected, one each from the country’s 41 administrative districts.

Francois Latortue, the minister of justice, said the government decided to appoint 20 members to make sure all major social and economic interest groups are represented on the assembly.

Politicians also have complained that the short time between the announcement of the decree and the elections do not give enough time for the preparation of proper voting procedures and for campaigning. Latortue said there was no need for a long campaign.

“I don’t think campaigning will be very hard,” he said.

Although no voter registration lists will be used, Latortue said, repeat voting can be prevented by staining a finger of each voter with indelible ink.

Constitution Plan Hit

Rene Theodore, secretary general of the Unified Party of Haitian Communists, said the planned assembly will be “anti-democratic.” He objected to a requirement that assembly members be property owners or have “a known trade or profession.”

“It is an ambiguity that smells of elitism,” Theodore said at his party headquarters.

Politicians also object to the government’s plan to have a panel of nine unnamed “experts” prepare a draft constitution that would be proposed to the assembly.

“I highly suspect that this is an opportunity for the government to give jobs to a few friends . . . and these people are going to be the guardians of the orthodoxy,” said Marc Bazin, another presidential aspirant.

Many politically involved Haitians say the main problem in the whole process is that the provisional government is too closely linked to the old Duvalier regime.

“We haven’t gotten rid of 5% of the Duvalier people,” complained an art dealer and political analyst.

No Longer Outlaws

A foreign diplomat said that “Duvalierists” have become bolder in their plans as the provisional government has accepted their continuing presence in country’s power structure.

“Before they were the outlaws,” the diplomat said. “Now they have seen that they could take power with the democratic system.”

On Thursday, a meeting of about 100 people, representing more than a dozen political, labor and civic organizations, called for the replacement of all three members of the ruling National Government Council.

The meeting’s choice for president of a new council was Gerard Gourgue, chairman of the Haitian League of Human Rights. Gourgue was a member of the government council for a month and a half after Feb. 7, but he resigned to protest what he said was its failure to respond to popular demands.

Others proposed for council membership in the Thursday meeting were former Col. Octave Cayard, who led an aborted military rebellion against the elder Duvalier in 1970, and Gen. Jean Beliotte, the current army chief of staff.

Anti-Government Protests

Lt. Gen. Namphy, the government council’s current president, was army chief of staff under the younger Duvalier. The council’s other military member, Col. Williams Regala, was inspector general of the armed forces under Namphy.

Regala, as minister of the interior, is responsible for the organization of elections.

In a series of anti-government demonstrations in early June, the most insistent demand by protesters was for Regala’s removal. The demonstrations subsided after the electoral timetable was announced, but they have resumed in recent weeks.

Several demonstrations this month in the city of Gonaives have attracted special attention. The series of protests that brought Duvalier down began in Gonaives last November.

Want School Boycott

Many protesters are calling for a boycott of schools when they open Oct. 6 after summer vacation.

Some analysts say that a successful school boycott and spreading demonstrations could jeopardize the Oct. 19 election plans.

Father Jean-Bertrand Aristides, a Catholic priest with close ties among young anti-government protesters, said he doubts that the elections will take place as scheduled.

Calling the current government “Duvalierism without Duvalier,” Aristides predicted an increase in popular action against it between now and Oct. 19.

“People are not happy and will continue to fight,” he said in an interview. “Who knows if the people will get a revolutionary and popular government within this time? It’s possible.”