4 Haiti Candidates Demand Regime Resign Before Vote

Stiffening their opposition to Haiti’s military-dominated government, four major presidential candidates Friday demanded the resignation of the regime before a new election is held to replace the vote that was canceled last month.

The four candidates, Marc Bazin, Sylvio Claude, Gerard Gourgue and Louis Dejoie, had already announced that they would not run in any election organized by the government.

The ruling National Council of Government headed by Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy dissolved the Electoral Council that had tried to conduct the Nov. 29 election. The action was taken after the voting was disrupted by rampaging gangs of gunmen who shot and terrorized potential voters.

The ruling council rescheduled the voting for Jan. 17.

New Electoral Council Named

Civic, political and other organizations that had chosen the nine members of the original Electoral Council refused Namphy’s request to select replacements.

Friday night, the government named a new Electoral Council to organize the voting. The nine new council members do not appear to be widely known.

“Not a single one of them is prominent,” said Louis Roy, one of the principal authors of Haiti’s recently adopted constitution.

The four protesting presidential candidates charged Friday that the government had already usurped the powers of an independent electoral board by setting a date for a new election.

“As a result, we demand the immediate resignation of the National Council of Government and . . . have already initiated talks in order to propose an alternative government that could ensure a transition to democracy,” a statement from the four said.

It was not immediately known what the makeup of the “alternative” government would be.

Bazin, Claude, Gourgue and Dejoie had been expected to be the main vote-getters in the Nov. 29 election, and their withdrawal probably means that far fewer Haitians will vote in the next one.

Gerard Noel, chief government spokesman, professed to be unconcerned about the pullout of the four.

“Whoever is and is not a candidate doesn’t interest me at all,” Noel said. “The government has nothing to do with the elections.”

19 Candidates Remain

Nineteen candidates remain of those who appeared on the ballot for the Nov. 29 election, which was to be Haiti’s first open vote in 30 years.

Voting for legislative and mayoral offices is to be held Jan. 17 along with the presidential balloting.

The U.S. government cut off aid to Haiti in the wake of the Nov. 29 election debacle and has not resumed it. Officials in Washington say they are waiting to see how Haitians react to the plans for next month’s election. U.S. officials here indicated this week that a joint statement by the leading candidates might be an indication of how Haitians will respond.

But public reaction in Haiti has been subdued. A two-day general strike partially closed down Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, early this week, but there have been no demonstrations or protests since then.

Schools Closed

Schools are closed, for economic as well as political reasons. The National Confederation of Haitian Teachers complained that teachers had not been paid for November and asked that parents donate salaries to them before schools reopen.

The union said in a statement that schools will probably remain closed through Christmas “because of the climate of fear.”

The relative quiet this week contrasts with the violence that led up to the Nov. 29 election day. Both Haitian and foreign election observers accuse the government of failing to stop gunmen from attacking voters. Witnesses said government soldiers participated in the attacks that left 34 dead in Port-au-Prince alone.

Government spokesman Noel, who is considered close to Namphy, said he does not know who was responsible for the violence. The government has appointed a board of inquiry to investigate.

Dismisses U.S. Reaction

“If I knew who was responsible, we wouldn’t have designated a Commission of Inquiry,” Noel told reporters. He said there is a “permanent Communist threat” and “agitation.”

The government spokesman dismissed U.S. reaction to the violence.

“I don’t know why the United States suspended its aid,” he said. “It is not the first time this has happened in the history of this country--that the great powers impose with the big stick their views of the situation.”

Thirty years ago, the United States cut off aid to Haiti when Francois Duvalier founded a family dynasty that lasted 29 years.