Published On:Tuesday, August 17, 2010

By MEGAN REYNOLDS

Tribune Staff Reporter

mreynolds@tribunemedia.net

HAITIAN hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has livened up Haiti's presidential race by throwing his hat into the ring with a pledge to use his international acclaim to help rebuild the earthquake ravaged country.

And while the move has grabbed the attention of Haitians in the Bahamas and around the world, their main concern is restabalising Haiti after January's devastating earthquake.

Wyclef's charity 'Yele' raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for his homeland, but as demolished buildings have yet to be repaired and hundreds of thousands of Haitians remain homeless, the 40-year-old rapper has pledged to do more.

He was one of a stream of candidates from at least 58 parties who filed candidacy documents at the earthquake-broken election headquarters before excited crowds in Port-au-Prince last Saturday.

As the nation prepares for the first-round presidential election vote - in which legislators and local officials will also be chosen - on November 28, the rapper said he wants to use his international fame and contacts as a music star to be an international spokesman for the country.

As candidate for the Viv Ansanm party Wyclef, who moved from Haiti to New York at age nine and has homes in both Port-au-Prince and New Jersey, said he is now seeking aid and allies for his homeland as Haiti desperately needs foreign investment.

"As we navigate into the 21st century, I think you're going to need a president that is not just a local president of the country," Wyclef told Reuters.

"You're going to need a global president and that means not just staying in Haiti, but going outside of Haiti and speaking to donors and creating more allies and letting them know Haiti is ready for the transformation."

Haitian resident of Grand Bahama Octrervil Baptiste, 29, believes Wyclef could bring the change Haiti needs, despite his lack of political experience.

"I feel he has a passion for his country and his people," Mr Baptiste said.

"He has been going back to Haiti for many years, to try to help people in the places where people really need help, where others are afraid to go.

"And if we want to see the Haitian people come together to rebuild the nation, I think he would inspire young people in Haiti, and Haitians around the world, to do so."

But Antoine St Louis, president of the United Haitian Bahamian Association of the Bahamas, said the next president will need much more than fame and notoriety.

Haiti's next president will oversee the spending of nearly $10 billion in reconstruction aid promised at a United Nations donors conference in March, less than 10 per cent of which has been delivered so far.

But Mr St Louis said: "Haiti needs much more than money, it needs leadership.

"With good leadership you will get investment and you will get the country established to build security.

"If you can influence people to draw investment and also have good leadership skills it would be good - because frankly I don't think people in Haiti have those leadership skills."

He said he is not encouraged by the high number of candidates as it distracts from the serious leaders.

Candidates must meet seven constitutional requirements: be a native of Haiti, be at least 35, have never renounced their citizenship, have never been sentenced for a crime, own property and a habitual residence in Haiti, not currently be handling public funds, and have resided in the country for at least five consecutive years before election day.

President Rene Preval is barred from seeking re-election. His 'Unity' party revealed this week it is not backing former Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis, but rather Jude Celestin, head of the government's primary construction firm.

Alexis registered with a different party, the Mobilisation for Haitian Progress, run by a former presidential hopeful from Miami with family ties to former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

The support of Preval's party is expected to be a factor in the contentious presidential race.

The eight members of the provisional electoral council who will determine which candidates are qualified for the ballot were all approved for their positions by Preval.