PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec. 17 -- Haitians voting Sunday for president said the goals of the next administration should be creating jobs and improving the economic situation in their poor Caribbean nation. Haitians went to the polls to pick a new leader to replace President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had agreed to step down as promised when he returned from exile. Voters and others around several polling sites in Port-au-Prince expressed strong support for Rene Preval of Aristide's Lavalas Platform coalition, and said the nation's main problems were economic. 'The problem is who killed the economy?' said a shoeshiner named Joseph on a Port-au-Prince street corner. 'Life is expensive, there are no jobs, no money, no nothing.' 'It's a hard life, everything costs too much,' agreed Francis Poggu, a 27-year-old unemployed student at a nearby polling place. Those interviewed said the winner, expected to be Preval, should take steps to improve Haiti's economy and create jobs, though they were hard- pressed to provide concrete recommendations. 'There's no life in Haiti. I'd like the country to develop,' said Maude Mecena, 25, outside a polling place after voting for Preval. 'I'd like Preval to give me work.' While Haitians overwhelmingly said they supported Aristide and Preval, they also expressed skepticism that a new leader would bring significant change. 'We'll try with a new leader and see if it helps,' said Poggu. Joseph the shoeshine man, who lost his voter card and was unable to vote, observed: 'When they're not in power they think they're going to help the country, but then in power, they forget.'
Asked if a new government would help Haiti improve, Kitle Jean- Jacques, who was selling fried bread on a street corner and expected to vote later in the day, said, 'Only God knows.' Though critical of the economic situation, the Haitians interviewed noted that the country had become a safer place since the former military regime left and Aristide returned to the presidency. Aristide, who was overthrown in a bloody 1991 coup, was succeeded by an oppressive military regime led by Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras. It was forced out last year by U.S. and U.N. pressure, and Aristide returned from exile Oct. 15, 1994. 'I have slept well since Aristide's return,' said Margaret Plecid, a 54-year-old housewife. 'Before I couldn't sleep because there was always gunfire.' She said Aristide 'fixed everything' and the military regime would never return. 'Before, when the military was here, the country was very bad. People had weapons and killed everybody,' Serge Lester said while voting. 'They're not going to come back.
