PORT-AU-PRINCE, Mar 1 (IPS) – President Rene Preval and his Prime Minister-designate Rony Smarck pondered Friday the final composition of Haiti’s new cabinet – due to be sworn in next week.

They faced problems in filling the vital portfolios of Finance and Commerce, according to political sources. These two posts were regarded as the most important by international financial institutions as the ministers chosen would be responsible for Haiti’s structural adjustment programme (SAP).

‘’They have been contacting many members of the business sector … but everyone has apparently balked at accepting the posts because they are afraid of being used as scapegoats when the government has to face popular protests the moment it tries to apply the measures necessary for economic recovery,’’ one businessman said.

The question of privatising public enterprises – one of the SAP’s main planks – caused the dismissal last October of Premier Smarck Miuchel by the then President Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Preval has faced other problems since assuming office early last month. Public protests overe the state of the economy spilled into the streets in several regions and the authority of the state, which Preval promised to see respected, was continually challenged.

The government was forced to negotiate with the inhabitants of a slum district who had seized some 15 heavy trucks belonging to the Ministry of Public Works.

The new government has also shied away from confronting civil servants who barred a minister from entering his office, and blocked an important main highway leading to the capital in protest against the eventual closing down of a ministry. And this week policemen were seen intervening violently to break up a demonstration by high school students demanding the removal of garbage piled in front of their building.

‘’If the new leaders persist in going back on their decisions each time they have to confront protest demonstrations by certain groups…I don’t see how they will be able to get the economic recovery measures through parliament, or manage to reassure entrepreneurs and encourage investors,’’ ‘’ said economist Kesner Pharel.

Pressure by political parties and influential organisations, and even by ministers of the present government, has forced the president to reconsider his decision to close certain ministries, according to political sources..

After parliament ratified the choice of Rony Smarck as Perim minister on Tuesday, deputies have waited for a policy statement t o open the way to the swearing in of the new government.

The most important portfolios in the new cabinet appeared likely to go to former ministers of Aristide’s government but the three Lavalas parties will not have the majority of ministers in the new cabinet. Popular leaders questioned by IPS were cautious, but sceptical about the composition of the new government.

Concern centred on the belief that Preval would be labelled as ‘’simply reconstituting the Aristide team’’.

‘’I believe Preval will have to change his government very quickly,’’ one trade uniopn leader said. ‘’ People are beginning to become desperate at the fact that certain ministers who never accomplished anything concrete under Aristide might be brought back to their old cabinet posts. This would be a disappointment to those popular groups which had warned Preval against taking such a step.’’

Ministers of Health, Environment, Public Works, Education and Foreign Affairs in the outgoing government would remain at their posts, while the Minister of Planning would be switched to the Economy Ministry, political sources opined.

Max Antoine, a lawyer with close ties to the labour sector, was tipped to head the Ministry of Justice, charged with the reform of the police and the judiciary system.

In a farewell report Tuesday, the outgoing prime minister, Claudette Werleigh, presented a summary of her 100 days in office. She admitted that she had been forced, up until her last day, to deal with questions of public security.

She regretted not having succeeded as she would have wished in ‘’shifting the main centre of interest of Haitian society in the direction of economics’’- a point obviously not lost on Smarck and Preval. (END/IPS/imc/96)

Origin: Rome/HAITI-POLITICS/ ----

[c] 1996, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved

May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or service outside of the APC networks, without specific permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, print media and broadcast. For information about cross- posting, send a message to <ips-info@igc.apc.org>. For information about print or broadcast reproduction please contact the IPS coordinator at <ipsrom@gn.apc.org>.