a1051: Haiti senate president chosen as prime minister (later story) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Michael Deibert

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 4 (Reuters) - Moving to fill a top job
that has been vacant for six weeks, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide will appoint Senate President Yvon Neptune as prime minister,
officials said on Monday.
     Neptune, 55, a powerful senator from Haiti's Western province and
former spokesman for Aristide's Lavalas Family party, will fill the vacancy
that has existed in the embattled Caribbean country's government since
Prime Minister Jean Marie Cherestal resigned on Jan. 21.
     The announcement was made by Lavalas spokesman Jonas Petit, who said
the decision was made after Aristide met with senior Lavalas officials.
"They all agreed Sen. Neptune was a good choice, and his first act as prime
minister will be to attack corruption in government," Petit said.
     Cherestal stepped down amid allegations of corruption and
incompetence.
     The Aristide government has been locked in a dispute with the
opposition Democratic Convergence coalition since the May 2000
parliamentary elections, which Convergence said were tabulated to give
Lavalas more seats than it was due.
     Convergence refused to take part in November 2000 presidential
elections that Aristide won. The quarrel has prompted foreign donors who
are anxious to see the country establish solid democratic credentials after
decades of dictatorship to hold up hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
     The political situation has deteriorated since Dec. 17, when a group
of heavily armed men stormed the National Palace in an apparent coup
attempt. Pro-government mobs demonstrated after the gunmen fled.
     Two weeks ago, a Lavalas deputy was shot and killed as he sat in
traffic in the capital.