APNewsBreak: Jean seeks dual citizenship for Haiti
By TAMARA LUSH (AP) – 8 hours ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hip hop artist and presidential hopeful Wyclef Jean said Saturday that as leader he would work to change Haiti's constitution to allow dual citizenship and give many Haitians living abroad the right to vote in their homeland.
The issue is central in Haiti where hundreds of thousands have emigrated to flee poverty and the money they send to relatives back home is a vital source of income in the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation.
Currently, Haitians who emigrate must renounce their Haitian citizenship if they become citizens of another country, making them unable to vote or run for office in their homeland. Jean himself left Haiti for New York City when he was nine, but never sought U.S. citizenship.
The former Fugees frontman told The Associated Press that his presidency would be a "bridge" between the Haitians abroad and those living in the country.
"The future is dual citizenship," he said, adding that many countries, including the neighboring Dominican Republic, allow citizens to hold two passports.
Haitians abroad "should have the right to vote in their country," especially since they send billions in remittances to family members.
"If they are the ones who keep this country alive, they should have some kind of say on what kind of government structure there is," the 40-year-old singer said.
Jean arrived in Haiti after giving a concert in Belgium. He said it might be one of his last performances for five years if elected.
The singer, who appeared relaxed and was wearing a blue Adidas track suit and headphones around his neck, spoke to AP at the main airport in Port-au-Prince. He touched on issues of security, former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and on what being a celebrity has taught him about politics.
"Celebrity has taught me that politics is politricks," he said. "The fact that I'm coming with this with fresh eyes but not naive ears, I think that's a good start."
But he spent most of the interview discussing the Haitian Diaspora, concentrated mainly in Miami, New York, Paris and Montreal.
People in Haiti have long relied on family and friends abroad to make ends meet. Remittances are the main source of income in the country of more than 9 million people, 70 percent of whom are unemployed and 90 percent of whom live in poverty.
According to a survey for the Inter-American Development Bank, 33 percent of Haitians receive cash from abroad and nearly 75 percent of the money is spent on food, housing, utilities and clothing. Food and other gifts are also sent.
The average remittance in Haiti is about $150 and those who receive them typically get about 10 transfers a year, for an average total of $1,500, the IDB survey shows. A Haitian's per-capita income in 2008 was about $1,300, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Jean noted that over a five-year period, the remittances total almost the same amount that has been so far pledged by donors to help reconstruct Haiti.
"To save the country, it's not just going to take aid," he said. "It's going to take investment. That's the message."
To be sure, Jean himself has a big hurdle to clear before he actually campaigns for office.
An eight-member provisional electoral council is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether Jean will even be listed on the Nov. 28 presidential ballot. According to the country's constitution, Haitian presidents must have lived in the country at least five consecutive years before election day.
During the interview with the AP, Jean also said that he will govern in Creole and that he is going to hire a French tutor. Politicians in Haiti traditionally speak mainly Creole and French — the latter for many things being the language of government in Haiti. Jean's American-accented Creole and lack of French are constant reminders he did not grow up here.
When asked whether he would allow Aristide — who won elections in 1990 and 2000 only to be ousted twice first by a coup and then a rebellion — back into the country, Jean was circumspect.
"I look forward to the return of everyone," he said.
He also addressed Haiti's notorious corruption by saying that he wants to pay people a minimum wage and pay public servants on time.
"I will exercise my right as commander in chief to fight all forms of corruption," he said.
And he admitted that he is going to have to find new lyrics to one of his popular songs, "If I Was President," where he sings that he will "get elected on Friday, assassinated on Saturday, and buried on Sunday."
"I think in Haiti you have to care about your security," he said, just before climbing into an armored SUV. "That song for me was a tounge-in-cheek situation. In the next two months, I'm going to make sure I remix this song."

Wyclef Jean 'in hiding' after death threats over Haiti presidency bid
Rapper says he is at secret location while officials prepare to announce whether he is eligible to run in election
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 08.12 BST
Article history

Wyclef Jean in his car upon arrival at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. If approved he would be one of 32 presidential candidates. Photograph: Ramon Espinosa/AP
Wyclef Jean has gone into hiding following alleged death threats as he awaits an official announcement on whether he can run in Haiti's November's presidential election.

The ex-Fugees star said he was at a secret location in Haiti in defiance of threats to leave the country but revealed few details about who may be responsible for the intimidation.

Jean's presidential hopes hang in the balance as electoral officials prepare to announce whether he is eligible to run in what promises to be a tumultuous contest with dozens of candidates.

A list of candidates who meet constitutional requirements to lead the earthquake-hit country – requirements that could disqualify Jean – was due to be published yesterday but officials said several unnamed candidates remained under review and that the announcement would not be made until Friday.

In a series of emails to the Associated Press, the 40-year-old rapper said he did not know whether the electoral commission, known as the CEP, would approve his candidacy but that there had been questions about whether he met residency requirements: "We await the CEP decision but the laws of the Haitian constitution must be respected."

His lawyers were at the commission's headquarters seeking to argue his case, he said. In the same emails he announced he was in hiding but did not elaborate on the nature of the threats.

If approved, Jean will be a frontrunner, but the fact he has lived in the US since he was a boy could put a premature end to a campaign launched two weeks ago with fanfare, dancers and hype.

Legal requirements and political intrigue – few believe the decision will be based on entirely technical reasons – could sink his hopes of swapping a recording studio for power in a broken country.

Jean was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, outside the capital, Port-au-Prince. At the age of nine he moved with his family to New York, then New Jersey, and made only fleeting return visits to the Caribbean.

Opponents said his history violated constitutional requirements that a candidate must have his or her "habitual residence" in Haiti and have resided in the country for at least five consecutive years before election day. Jean said his appointment as a roving ambassador by President René Préval in 2007 exempted him from residency requirements.

The race has drawn 34 candidates from diverse backgrounds, including veteran political operators and one-man band neophytes.

"This is a very volatile situation. The easiest thing they can say is 'You are all candidates'. But I don't know if they will do that," Robert Fatton, a Haiti-born political expert at the University of Virginia, told the news website Haitian Truth. "It's going to be fascinating to see how many are in the race after 17 August."

The Unity party of Préval, who is stepping down as president, has backed Jude Celestin, head of the government's primary construction firm, as his successor.

The party had been expected to back a former prime minister, Jacques-Edouard Alexis, who instead registered with a different party, the Mobilisation for Haitian Progress. The horse-trading suggested that murky deals as much as votes could determine the election outcome.

Fresh doubts about Jean's fitness for office arose today from a New York Times investigation into apparent mismanagement and questionable accounting at his charity, Yéle Haiti. The newspaper alleged the charity had failed to deliver water as it had claimed to several camps of earthquake survivors, and that some donations vanished into blurred lines between Jean's business, political and charity endeavours. He denies any wrongdoing.

Yesterday his public relations representative, Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, announced without explanation that it had resigned from all public relations work for Yéle and Jean's presidential campaign.

The musician has batted away doubts about his suitability for office. "Celebrity has taught me that politics is politricks. The fact that I'm coming with this with fresh eyes but not naive ears, I think that's a good start."

Wyclef Jean Barred From Haiti Election
By DEBORAH SONTAG
Published: August 20, 2010


Haiti’s electoral council announced late Friday evening that Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-American hip-hop star, had been disqualified as a candidate for president of his earthquake-shattered homeland.

No explanation was given. A spokesman for the council, Richardson Dumel, facing reporters who had been standing vigil at the election bureau all day, read a list of 19 presidential aspirants deemed eligible and 15, including Mr. Jean, whose candidacy had been rejected.

But the musician’s bid appears to have been rejected primarily because he did not meet the requirement of having lived in Haiti for five consecutive years before the Nov. 28 elections. Born in Haiti, Mr. Jean left as a child for the United States and now, based in New Jersey, travels often to his homeland.

Mr. Jean, waiting at a nearby hotel to hold a press conference after the announcement, reportedly left the area abruptly to return to his hometown of Laserre, outside Port-au-Prince.

Tensions had been building throughout the day after the council’s decision to reject Mr. Jean was leaked late Thursday but not confirmed. Hundreds of Mr. Jean’s passionate supporters had rallied in the Delmas area of the capital, chanting, “We want Clef, Clef is Haiti and Haiti is for Clef.”

The police and United Nations peacekeeping troops prepared for the possibility of unrest after a rejection of Mr. Jean’s bid.

The electoral council waited until long after darkness had fallen to issue its list of approved presidential candidates, originally due out Tuesday. And it did so in at its Pétionville bureau, and not at the office in Delmas where the crowds had gathered.

Mr. Jean’s short-lived candidacy, announced in the first week of August, had electrified Haiti and drawn global attention back to the beleaguered country. It also drew scrutiny to the musician’s charity, Yéle Haiti, and questions about Mr. Jean’s ability to take on the enormous task of helping Haiti recover and rebuild.

All Friday, the Haitian news media discussed the possibility that Mr. Jean would be disqualified. But Mr. Jean issued periodic messages on Twitter on Friday suggesting that the final decision had not been made and that he, too, was in a state of suspense.

“We await the decision of the Electoral Council, to see if I made the list as a candidate,” one message said. “As it is written so shall it be done!”

For a couple of days, Mr. Jean had isolated himself in a family home in Laserre, saying he had received death threats and felt safer there. On Thursday afternoon, he ventured out to see President René Préval, prompting speculation that the departing president was asking Mr. Jean to prevail upon his followers to accept whatever decision the electoral council made.

On Friday, Mr. Jean sent a message to his supporters urging calm, Haitian radio stations reported. He also posted photographs on Twitter of his meeting with the president: “This is another pic of me n President René Préval from Yesterday’s Meeting. Very positive. Smiles all the way.”

Among those candidates approved to run for the presidency of Haiti are: Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady and university administrator; Yvon Neptune, a former prime minister; Leslie Voltaire, an architect active in reconstruction planning; and Michel Martelly, a musician known as Sweet Micky.

The electoral council was supposed to issue its list of approved presidential candidates on Tuesday, but it delayed that move in order to scrutinize the eligibility not just of Mr. Jean but of many others in the field of 34 contenders.

The decision on whether to eliminate Mr. Jean was considered the most delicate, however. Despite his lack of political experience, Mr. Jean had been considered a potential front-runner from the moment he announced his candidacy in the first week of August. At that time, he described himself as having been “drafted” to run by the youth of Haiti.

“I didn’t create this hurricane, this tsunami you’re feeling in the last couple of days,” he said in an interview before announcing his candidacy.

In an interview earlier this month, Mr. Jean said that he believed he met the eligibility requirements for a presidential candidate. He said he never abandoned his Haitian citizenship; he holds a Haitian passport and an American green card, or legal permanent residency.

He also said he should not be disqualified on the basis of the residency requirement because he is a goodwill ambassador for Haiti, appointed by Mr. Préval with a mandate to rove the world.

The Haitian People Have Been Spared Another Disaster

New WikiLeak: Haitian officials issue, retract warrant for Wyclef Jean's arrest on corruption charges

Written by The San Francisco





Wyclef Jean hopes to salvage what little remains after government plunders Haitian earthquake relief funds.


PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- Fugees co-founder and hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean said Haitian officials reached "a new low" when they issued an arrest warrant alleging corruption charges against him, then revoked it less than six hours later.

"It couldn't have been me, anyway," said the performer in a live telephone interview Sunday. "I was on an extended vacation in New Jersey at the time!"

Asked who could be behind the accusations, Jean said, "I would not be willing to make a direct allegation against any one official - the Haitian government is full of crooked liars."

The arrest warrant was filed against Jean in absentia on Saturday. Haitian media, quoting unnamed sources, reported that the hip-hop artist stood accused of "attempting to finance his education at Boston Baked Bean College of Music with money intended for earthquake relief aid."

But less than six hours later, the corruption charges had been retracted with a statement that the songwriter was "no longer wanted" and "is not suspected of corruption."

Asked about the accusations, Jean -- whose grandfather was a voodoo priest -- said, "It's extraordinary to hear comments like these coming from government shape-shifters with such long histories of corruption."

Haiti's crooked political traditions recently prompted $55 million in grants from the World Bank and others to finance anti-corruption controls and govern Haiti's distribution of earthquake relief funds meant to rebuild the country, not to build reconstruction officials' nest eggs.

About 1.3 million people -- roughly 15 percent of the population -- are still living under leaky tarps more than seven months after a magnitude 7.0 quake devastated the country in January. Obstacles preventing President René Préval from moving people out of these tent cities include Haiti's conflicting land ownership laws, competing deeds, and contradictory surveys left behind by coups, dictatorships and political strife.

Concerned for Haiti's future, Jean recently announced on Larry King Lives -- but not in Haiti -- that he had submitted paperwork to run for president himself in hopes of besting Préval in the fight against corruption like this.

His eligibility to run was called into question after claims surfaced that he had not lived in Haiti for five consecutive years prior to the election as required by the country's constitution. Often a reclusive figure, Jean reportedly lives part-time in a fetid, rat-infested tent community near Port au Prince, Haiti's capital, when he's not vacationing in New Jersey.

Haitian-American rapper Pras, a jealous bastard who used to perform with Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill in The Fugees before he faded into obscurity, said that he will throw all his support behind Jean's opponent(s).

Actor Sean Penn, who has lived in Haiti's capital since an earthquake devastated the island nation in January, questioned whether an honest candidate like Wyclef Jean has the right qualifications to lead a government as corrupt as Haiti's.

For instance, although Jean's birth date was widely believed to be October 17, 1972, he corrected the mistake, disclosing the true year of his birth as 1969 when he filed papers seeking to run for president, Penn explained.

"Nous en Haïti sont unis dans nos luttes, et nous serons unis dans nos victoires et de triomphes," Jean noted, casually slipping into French, one of Haiti's two officially recognized languages - the other is Haitian Creole.

"Laissez-nous le supporter paisiblement et nous nous réjouissons à l'époque où nos efforts seront payants pour tous mes compatriotes Haïtiens, he continued. "Il est maintenant la lutte.

"Malheureusement, moi d'être élu président d'Haïti, qui est comme Arnold être élu président de la Californie, si la Californie avait été détruite par les tremblements de terre, et si l'Autriche était la seule langue d'Arnold!"

Asked to explain, Wyclef Jean shook his head sadly. "Sorry, but I can't help you. I only speak English. That's just the writer of this article having a little fun.

"You see?" he added hopefully. "I really am honest!"