Haiti Cabinet Gets Unanimous OK From Parliament

Parliament gave unanimous approval Friday to Haiti’s new 14-member Cabinet, which includes a member of the former ruling junta as defense minister.

The new defense chief, retired Maj. Gen. Williams Regala, served as defense and interior minister in the transition to civilian government that began with the collapse of the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship Feb. 7, 1986. Critics repeatedly demanded his resignation during the two years of junta rule after dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier fled the country.

Regala, widely regarded as a Duvalier supporter, retired from active military service Wednesday.

Prime Minister Martial Celestin kept the justice ministry portfolio.

President Leslie F. Manigat and his prime minister appeared to be trying through the Cabinet appointments to broaden popular support for their government. Most of the members are known as liberals or moderates.

Manigat was declared the winner of the Jan. 17 election, which was run by the junta, boycotted by the most popular presidential candidates and ignored by most Haitians. Critics charged that the army rigged the voting.

A Nov. 29 election managed by an independent Electoral Council was called off because bands of thugs, often joined by soldiers, killed at least 34 people.

Among the other Cabinet members are:

--Yves Auguste heads the key Interior Ministry, charged with internal security. He is a little-known former diplomat in his 70s.

--Gerard Latortue, foreign affairs. Latortue, 54, spent 25 years in exile during the Duvalier dictatorship and was co-director of the U.N. Organization for Industrial Development in Vienna.

--Alain Turnier, finance. He is an industrialist and writer in his early 70s who was finance minister before Duvalier’s father, Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier, gained power in 1957.

--Adrien Westerband, public health. He is director of the Haitian Red Cross.

--Emmanuel Fils Aime, education and sports. Fils Aime was education minister for two months in 1985 and is the only new Cabinet minister to have held a public position under the Duvaliers.