Rich-poor divide will challenge president-elect of Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- President-elect Rene Preval has begun meeting rivals to build a parliament coalition as he embarks on an effort to patch deep divides between the country's small elite and the poor majority who propelled him to office.

A stream of well-wishers has trooped through the hilltop house of Preval's sister, including fourth-place presidential candidate Chavannes Jeune, and a Senate candidate for the Fusion Party, both bitter enemies of Preval's one-time mentor, ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

But the 63-year-old agronomist, who was declared the winner of the Feb. 7 election after he alleged massive vote fraud, said he would not speak to the public about his plans for his impoverished Caribbean nation until next week.

''Wednesday at 11, Wednesday at 11," he said during a brief appearance before a crush of media cameras.

Despite Preval's reticence, Haiti specialists and nonprofit organizations quickly sketched out the challenges facing him in a country where rich and poor are divided by hatred, 80 percent are unemployed, and incomes average $400 a year.

The wealthy elite's mistrust of the large slum populations -- which fueled turbulence during Aristide's two terms and ultimately led to an armed revolt that ousted the former Roman Catholic priest in February 2004 -- has not gone.

The country remains awash in firearms and plagued by gunmen and gangs, and the chaotic capital was ravaged by kidnappings and crime before the election, despite the presence of 9,000 Brazilian-led UN troops and police.

''As difficult as getting elected was, the challenges now are absolutely staggering," said Ken Boodhoo, a Florida International University professor who runs the Whole Man Ministries charitable missions in Haiti.

Security, jobs, ''the problem of the elite," and the potential for Aristide to return from exile were leading challenges for Preval, Boodhoo said. ''He needs massive support from the international community and he's probably going to get it."

The United States, long the key foreign player in Haiti and accused of undermining Aristide, has welcomed Preval's election, but US officials also have warned him not to bring Aristide back from exile.

Charles Arthur of the British-based Haiti Support Group said Preval's first problem will be managing the huge expectations of his supporters in the crowded slums, where children go hungry and families sleep in shifts because they lack space.

The second challenge was working with parliament, where election results have yet to be announced and where most races are expected to go to a second round in March, he said.

Preval's coalition ''Lespwa," Creole for ''The Hope," fielded 19 candidates for 30 Senate seats and 58 candidates for 99 lower house seats, he said.

But Arthur said other groups were likely to dominate parliament and elect a prime minister, who under Haiti's Constitution holds more executive power than the president.

''I see them all [the other leading parties in parliament] as hostile to Preval," Arthur said.

Preval's two main campaign rivals, former President Leslie Manigat and industrialist Charles Baker, have condemned the unusual deal that led to Preval's election, perhaps a harbinger of continued political confrontation.

Assistance from the international community and $1.3 billion in promised aid that has been partially dispersed since Aristide was deposed, are crucial to Preval's government, aid organizations said.