Haiti is in for a surprise as Wyclef Jean could be running for president. The earthquake that hit Haiti last January was devastating and Wyclef Jean, as the Grammy winner as frontman of the Fugees, thinks he needs to help the individuals of this native land. Jean’s running in the election is going to be interesting considering it is one of probably the most important elections Haiti will ever have. The majority are concerned because Jean has no political experience. His qualifications are sketchy considering he mostly grew up in New Jersey and New York after he left Haiti at age 9.
Wyclef Jean’s presidential aspirations
Wyclef Jean’s presidential aspirations were revealed on a Miami radio station Thursday morning. The Miami Herald reports that Jean will step down as the founder and chairman of the Yéle Haiti Foundation to prepare for his candidacy. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that $ 9.1 million for Haiti earthquake relief was raised by the Yélé foundation. A longtime advocate for Haiti, Jean was among the first responders after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake Jan 12 devastated Port au Prince, the nation’s capital.
Haiti earthquake is why Jean wants to run
Wyclef Jean described his candidacy for Haitian president as a calling. In an interview with the New York Times he said:
“I’m not running for president so much as I’m being drafted. The youth, in their mind, if I don’t come and put a perspective to things, they feel there’s no future for the country, and I have to agree with them.”
The Times said Jean was planning to announce his Haitian presidential bid on “Larry King Live” after flying to Haiti on Thursday to register with the elections board. Any person who hopes to be president of Haiti has to have been a resident of Haiti five years first and a citizen. Both requirements are met by Jean despite the fact that he hasn’t lived there since he was a child. Born in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti, he holds a Haitian passport.
Havel and Reagan has competition being compared to Jean
In an interview with Time magazine, NPR reports that Jean cited Ronald Reagan and Vaclav Havel as precedents for the artist-to-head-of-state transition. Before Reagan and Havel got elected, they got a lot of experience which is as opposed to Jean. A musician that succeeded in politics quite a bit was former Midnight Oil frontman who became Australia’s environment minister, Peter Garrett. The Labour party completely lost in elections including Blur drummer Dave Rowntree who ran for British parliament.
Haiti doing very bad
November 28 is when the elections could be made for what Wyclef Jean wants to win and also the Miami Herald explains this could be an extremely essential vote. The president is going to have to help fix Haiti which had 300,000 people killed by an earthquake. More than six months later, 1.6 million people nevertheless live in makeshift camps throughout the capital and in cities to the south.
Additional reading
Miami Herald
miamiherald.com/2010/08/05/1762628/its-official-wyclef-jean-to-run.html
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/08/05/world/americas/05haiti.html?_r=1
NPR
npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128996915
