Wyclef Jean, President of Haiti: Do Haitians like the sound of that?

Jean was born in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Croix-des-Bouquets, but moved to the US at age 9 and grew up between New York City and New Jersey. Though he holds a Haitian passport, often travels back to Haiti, and has long been an advocate of dual citizenship and greater diaspora involvement, the artist has not permanently resided in the country since he left.

“How is Haiti going to move forward if the Haitians that came to live in America can’t go back and help the Haitians in Haiti?” Jean said last spring, at a fundraising event he held at Queens College, in New York City.

A daunting task ahead

The next Haitian president will have to take on the daunting task of reconstructing a capital city still covered in rubble and tent cities, rescuing the country’s moribund economy, and providing shelter and employment to the growing masses of poor and displaced.

He or she will also have to deal with rising insecurity and the possible return to the riots and violence that have marked many of Haiti’s elections in the past two decades.

Then there's the $10 billion in reconstruction aid that Haiti is supposed to get over the next few years. Administering that correctly won't be easy.

“He can’t even manage an enterprise properly,” Lacrete shuddered, talking about the Haitian TV company Telemax, which she charges has been “going down” since the singer became a shareholder. “How is he going to manage Haiti?”

'An authentic heart'

Others, however, are enthusiastic at the idea of having a music star for president and think the singer’s motivations are genuine. His supporters say he is already wealthy enough not to seek power for personal gain, as local politicians regularly do.

“He is not like the others, he has an authentic heart,” says Dominique Lapierre, a salesperson at a Port-au-Prince music store.

“Wyclef has done so much for this country, especially for the youth,” says Lapierre, who added he will not vote because he lost his ID while fleeing Port-au-Prince in January. “But I would vote for him. I believe he can really change this country.”

Related:

• Haiti earthquake: Six months later, are relief efforts dragging?
• In Haiti, Red Cross, Wyclef Jean change charity a text at a time
• Six months after the Haiti earthquake, what progress?

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