Wyclef Jean running for President in Haiti ?

harry2010

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Apr 27, 2010
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My cousin from Neuva York called me early this morning, all happy and with his list of solutions for Haiti, to tell me that Wyclef is running for President. If the energy felt from my cousin?s voice is the same in the youths in Haiti, Cleft should be president with no problem.

Wyclef Jean President Of Haiti? Ex-Fugee Mulling Campaign
 

Mariot

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Oct 13, 2009
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Why would he want to do that to himself? There is nothing in it for him personally, and he sure as hell won't achieve a single thing, if he even has a clear vision of what he wants to do.
Besides, he has no political experience whatsoever, so he would be eaten alive by the forces that control Haitian politics, and either be a helpless puppet president, or on a plane on his way to central Africa within a very short time.
 

Bronxboy

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Jul 11, 2007
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Why would he want to do that to himself? There is nothing in it for him personally, and he sure as hell won't achieve a single thing, if he even has a clear vision of what he wants to do.
Besides, he has no political experience whatsoever

Hey, not that the analogy is a good one, but Bloomberg has not been that bad for NY.

I say "why not". It would not hurt!
 

greydread

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Jan 3, 2007
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Run, Wyclef. Run!

Why would he want to do that to himself? There is nothing in it for him personally, and he sure as hell won't achieve a single thing, if he even has a clear vision of what he wants to do.
Besides, he has no political experience whatsoever, so he would be eaten alive by the forces that control Haitian politics, and either be a helpless puppet president, or on a plane on his way to central Africa within a very short time.

YouTube - Wyclef Jean-If I Was President

The fact that he has no experience in Haiti politics is probably his greatest asset. He has been involved with NGO aid to Haiti for quite a while and knows who makes things move there. The whole gang of current politicians has done nothing significant for the peope of Haiti and should be retired and replaced.

As for him being "eaten alive by the forces that control Haitian politics" you must be joking. This guy hasn't been "eaten alive" by the forces that control the record and movie industries where he's proven to be very successful. He's been swimming in a much larger and scarier pond than "Haitian politics" for years.

This is a guy who could inspire a mass migration back to Haiti of people who are separated by a generation from their birthright, well educated and adept at 1st World business practices.
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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I agree with Dread, I think it would be a great inspiration for the Diaspora to be more involved with their island.
 

principe

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Nov 19, 2002
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Wyclef

I honestly wish him the best of luck! He will sure need it, being an outsider should play in his favor. Hopefully, he will think outside of box of past/current political leadership in Haiti.

What is good for Haiti, is fantastic for DR. The sooner that country becomes a viable state the better.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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Haiti needs a radical change- algo positivo para Hait?...

I also support change in terms of getting a Haitian leader from the Diaspora. There are many capable, educated and successful Haitians with good leadership skills and know-how who currently are leaders in their communities abroad namely Montreal, New York and Miami.

If Wyclef Jean believes he has what it takes to lead the country in a forward direction, I say give him all the encouragement he can get. His involvement in the NGO aid gives him insight to the state of affairs and the fact that he's from the 'outside' means he can bring a much needed change of leadership and perspective to a nation's politics that has failed for decades.

I do think it will be a tremendous challenge for the possible young leader as it would for anyone one taking on such a task. However, Haiti needs a radical shake up and this unexpected possible leader may be a pleasant surprise for the country.

Here's a brief article from the Montreal Gazette (a city with the third largest Haitian Diaspora after Miami and NYC)

Wyclef Jean won't rule out Haiti presidential run

Here's a link to a thread about the Diaspora I poster earlier this year:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/haiti-earthquake/100657-port-au-prince-north-aka-montreal.html


118zojt.jpg
 

pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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I see no natural candidates.

In the absence of any obvious choices then The Clef could make a good fall-guy.
He could easily be the consummate "comedian".
Remember this election is not about politics or change - it is about money and protecting long held interests.
 

pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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Is it clear that elections will be held in November?


Yup, November 28th.
Unless Preval's opposition manage to convince the international community that the CEP, appointed by Preval, is manned by less than impartial memnbers.
Remember that these are the people that banned the single biggest party in 2008 which led to a turnout of less than 5% - and that election was declared fair and open by the UN and the Canadian representatives doing the monitoring.
And contrary to popular opinion the reason that each and every candidate was barred was not due to them all having criminal records. The official reason was that while Aristide was still officially the leader of the party he had to sign off on the candidate list. He would not as he was at loggerheads with the current party members in Haiti (remember Preval who appointed the CEP was Aristide's prime minister) so the CEP did not let any candidates run. Fair enough, I guess - rules is rules. But the whole bloody lot of them want their heads banging together.

As I say - it does not matter - the whole thing is a red herring. Do not be concerned with who is running, who is not or who is monitoring the election - nothing is real.
It is on the one hand a race to see who gets the travel first class on the gravy train and gets the first stab at abusing the money and power, and on the other hand it is a process necessary to pay lip-service to the international community whose money is about to be abused.


But the rest of us get in with it anyway. As I said before it would be nice to do business with the help of officialdom rather than in spite of them - even ambivalence would be OK.


I am trying to put a positive spin on things - but after a read through it seems that I do not sound very optimistic.
 

bryan1258

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Dec 24, 2007
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I think Michaelle Jean, the separatist Governor General of Canada would make a better candidate. At least it would get her sorry a$$ out of Canada. She could even take her pr!ck husband with her!!!
 

RonS

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Oct 18, 2004
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Yup, November 28th.
Unless Preval's opposition manage to convince the international community that the CEP, appointed by Preval, is manned by less than impartial memnbers. ...

I am trying to put a positive spin on things - but after a read through it seems that I do not sound very optimistic.

It is very easy for me to understand your lack of optimism and frustration with what is going on [or not going on], Pedro. It is difficult, however, to see how an election can be held in Haiti in 4 short months, even a farcical election. After six months, they haven't even removed the rubble from the streets of the capitol, for goodness sakes! It will be interesting to see how the CEP functions to get it done. Do they have a list of electors? Will there be a voter registration effort? How will candidate qualifications be determined; according to what rules or law? Isn't the country still functioning under a state of emergency by presidential decree?
 

pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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The election was actually announced by 2 presidential decrees.

Good question - how are they going to register/unregister voters who have died or live in tents?
Of course it will be a nonsense but hang on a minute.. I found a reason to be positive -

Preval is giving up his presidency voluntarily.
That is kind of special in Haiti - it only happened once before - that was Preval as well...

Mind you - who would actually want that job??

The done thing is to enter the fray fully knowing that you will not stand a chance of winning and then withdraw some time before the vote in exchange for your piece of the pie.

In 2008 there were 42 parties vying for votes. There are not 42 distinct opinions about how to run Haiti. Therefore we see this is about personal gratification, personal wealth and personal empire building.
 
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RonS

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The election was actually announced by 2 presidential decrees.

Good question - how are they going to register/unregister voters who have died or live in tents?

So, is it understood that the qualifications for candidacy, and for determining who is eligible to vote, will likewise be determined by presidential decrees?
 

pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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Not really - the CEP will decide - they were appointed by Preval and sanctioned by the UN and in 2008 given a clean bill of democratic health by Canadian observers.

Mind you that is all they have so I guess they will have to run with it.
They are damned if they do and damned if the don't.
Not to have elections as as scheduled in November would be seen as undemocratic and to have buggered up elections in November would also be seen as undemocratic.

I just want to see the least amount of people running round the streets smashing stuff up, throwing rocks and killing each other.

Bloody inconvenient or bloody convenient this earthquake - depending on your point of view.
 

RonS

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Oct 18, 2004
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Interesting. If the CEP is making up the rules then it will decide if Wyclef meets residency requirements or, indeed, if anyone else is eligible to run for election, since previous rules and law have been suspended by the state of emergency and the election is run by presidential decree. It seems that anything is possible under this circumstance, even the possibility that Haitians in the diaspora might be able to participate in the elections in ways that were not available to them before January 12th.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
I am a big fan of Wyclef.


I know that there were problems with his Yele foundation - but they got things done in Haiti. Save the Children, on the other hand, has impeccable bookkeeping but was so ineffective that they did not even bother to listen to their country director who has 20 years on the ground there. They came down from CT with plans in hand and so ignored him that he resigned after two months.

There is a bit of an outcry on this from the Internet posting elites-- the guy is not from the political class, not raised in Haiti, not even a resident!

But as was so rightly pointed out - this election is just smoke and mirrors. The Haitian government has very litlle power now since it has no money.

And Wyclef has the heart of the people- the very people who really need to be heard - the 80% who have not had a real voice since Aristide.

He already has a diplomatic passport -which is probably the way around the residency requirement.

Somehow, I do not think that he would be floating this trial baloon unless he was "told" that he would be backed... just my thoughts...

AND WOW

we would have such great music to listen to!!!

The Refugee ALL STARS

bring it on, I say

YouTube - Wyclef Jean Gonaives Music Video