Haitian hip-hop star Wyclef Jean registered as a presidential contender yesterday, in a move into politics that generated an outburst of popular enthusiasm in his poor, earthquake-ravaged homeland.
�I would like to tell (US) President Barack Obama that the United States has Obama and Haiti has Wyclef Jean,� the three-time Grammy award-winner, who is 40, told cheering supporters in a downtown area of Port-au-Prince.
�This is the only president who will dance when Creole hip-hop is being played,� Jean said in a speech after formally declaring his candidacy for the November 28 presidential election.
He filed papers at the electoral council to run as a candidate for the Viv Ansanm (Live Together) political party, as excited young supporters clad in white T-shirts packed the surrounding streets, which still bore the scars of a devastating January 12 earthquake.
The registration was required ahead of tomorrow�s filing deadline and authorities now have until August 17 to approve or reject his candidacy for the November 28 ballot.
�If his candidacy is approved, I think he�s going to be the next president,� said Saurel Magloire, who was among those gathered outside the electoral council.
Since former populist President Jean-Bertrand Aristide ran for the country�s top job in 1990, Magloire said he had never seen such a big outpouring of public support.
Jean, standing and waving to onlookers from the open sun-roof of his sport utility vehicle, drew repeated chants of �Long Live Wyclef� and �President Jean� as his impromptu motorcade later wound its way through the densely packed streets of the capital.
It was an extraordinary homecoming for Jean, who had flown into Haiti with his wife and young daughter and other relatives on a private jet from their home in the United States.
Singer-songwriter Jean has never held elective office but is widely admired in Haiti and credited with never having forgotten his Haitian roots.
The former Fugees star, best known for his work with Colombian pop star Shakira and their 2006 mega-hit �Hips Don�t Lie,� was born in Haiti but grew up in New York.
He has long been active in raising money for his homeland through his Yele Haiti Foundation and has led appeals for international aid since the January 12 earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people.
The disaster has left some 1.5 million homeless survivors still under tarpaulins and in makeshift tent cities.
More than half the population of Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Americas, is under 21. Because of that, but also because he is seen as a figure of hope and inspiration for a country with a turbulent history, many analysts predict Jean could easily win the presidential election.
Haiti�s outgoing government of President Rene Preval, who cannot seek re-election, has been widely criticised for failing to aid victims of the quake and for being slow to launch a credible start to the huge task of rebuilding the country.
Preval�s election in 2006 brought a measure of stability to a country torn by decades of dictatorship, military rule, political upheaval and gang violence.
But Haitians, who mostly earn less than US$2 (RM6.40) a day and live in utter poverty, complain they are worse off than ever since the quake, which has been described by some experts as one of the most destructive natural disasters in modern history.
Though talk about Jean�s candidacy has already generated widespread enthusiasm in Haiti, he faces many challenges in what he has described as his attempted transition �from rock star to statesman.�
One potential obstacle, according to Eduardo Gamarra, a political science professor at Florida International University, is Jean�s lack of management skills in a country with weak institutions that is in dire need of rebuilding.
�Whoever is president, he�s going to have to be an excellent manager,� Gamarra said. �The fact is, the only thing he�s managed is his band.�
Not only are his political skills untested, but, as a member of Haiti�s exile community, he could also be vulnerable to charges he is out of touch with the daily life of Haitians.
Panamanian-born salsa star Ruben Blades faced similar problems in his failed bid to win Panama�s presidency in 1994.
Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, said the fact Jean has spent most of his life outside of Haiti might even be a strength.
He could use his exile status �to convince Haitians that he has strong international contacts and knows how to solve difficult problems at home,� Shifter said.
�In Haiti, anything is possible,� Shifter said. �The race to succeed Preval is wide open. Jean has name recognition and money, and no one doubts his devotion to Haiti.�
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