Haiti: Michel Martelly backed by losing candidates

Five candidates who were defeated in the first round of Haiti's presidential election have given their support to pop singer Michel Martelly in the second round run-off.
Mr Martelly will face former first lady Mirlande Manigat in the 20 March vote.
The five candidates said Mr Martelly was the candidate most likely to promote democracy and development.
But they said the best solution would have been to annul the first round because of widespread fraud.
'Spirit of openness'In a joint statement, defeated candidates Josette Bijou, Wilson Jeudy, Genard Joseph, Chavanne Jeune and Eric Smarki Charles praised Mr Martelly for the "spirit of openness" he had shown in his campaign.
"We urge all our supporters in all corners of the country to go out and vote in mass for Michel Martelly to become president on Sunday 20 March," the statement said.
But the candidates added that the "best solution for democracy" would have been to annul the "mascarade" of the first round.
ControversyMs Manigat won the most votes in the first round, but opinion polls give Mr Martelly a slight lead ahead of next weekend's decisive vote.
The election to chose a successor to outgoing Haitian president Rene Preval has been mired in controversy.
International observers said the first round on 28 November was marred by fraud and intimidation.
Violent unrest broke out when Haiti's electoral authorities announced initial results that put the governing Inite party candidate Jude Celestin in second place.
The second round was postponed, and experts from the Organisation of American States were called in to assess the result
They found there had been large-scale fraud in Mr Celestin's favour, and recommended he withdraw.
After sustained international pressure, the electoral authority announced new results which put Mr Martelly through to the run-off against Ms Manigat.
Whoever wins the election faces the task of rebuilding Haiti after last year's huge earthquake, which killed around 230,000 people and left the capital, Port-au-Prince, in ruins.
                                               BBC.co.uk

Aristide is coming back , before the election , when ?

MIAMI, March 13 (UPI) -- Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is returning to Haiti, his American lawyer says.
Miami attorney Ira Kurzban told CNN Saturday, "He is headed back to Haiti. We don't know when yet, but it will be before the elections.
"He has no interest in meddling or being involved in the election. He has no interest in being involved in politics," Kurzban added.
The presidential runoff is scheduled for March 20.
Aristide, the Caribbean country's first democratically elected president in 190 years, was overthrown in 2004 and has been living in exile in South Africa.
Haiti gave him a new passport in February, but Kurzban said he fears not being able to go home after the election if a new administration revokes his visa.
"He wants to go home. He's been in exile for seven years," the lawyer said. "He wants to get his medical school up and operating given the conditions in Haiti. That's his interest."
Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, has charged the United States and other powers were behind his downfall. He repeated his longstanding wish to return after former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier unexpectedly showed up in Haiti in January.
                                       From UPI.COM

5 ex candidates to the presidency even Pastor Chavannes Jeune a well known pastor endorses Michel Martelly .

Five former candidates that sought the presidency in the first round of the presidential elections, who were also members of the group of 12 who sought its cancellation, have endorsed the candidature of Michel Martelly for president.

Pastor Chavannes Jeune, Josette Bijou, Eric Charles, Wilson Jeudy and Joseph Genard announced thier support in a news release Saturday.

The band of five still believe the first round of elections warrant cancellation as the press release reads: "To the plot of November 28, we continue to believe that the best solution for democracy in the country would have been to cancel the Masquerade which took place that day..."

They have however noted that the Haitian people has agreed to go to elections because it made him understand that this is the only condition so he could get out of poverty and under the tent where it was found on January 12, 2010.

"Considering the spirit of openness that the candidate Joseph Michel Martelly showed and its program, it seems us more capable of drawing, with him and his side of democracy, one of the conditions for the sustainable development of the country and this without demagogy." the press release continued.

The press release ended with the five former candidates calling to their supporters and sympathizers to come out and vote "for Michel Joseph Martelly became the fifty-sixth President of the Republic as soon as the first hour on Sunday, March 20".

 
Source: Radio Kiskeya

Michel Martelly smart man .

By TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com
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      Among Martelly’s biggest fans was Army Col. Michel Francois, who used the nickname “Sweet Micky” on his police radio. Francois, a chief architect of the coup, was convicted in absentia in 1995 on murder charges and now lives in Honduras.
In early 1993, Francois asked Martelly to join protesters when Dante Caputo, the UN special representative to Haiti, arrived at the Port-au-Prince international airport to negotiate Aristide’s return. The greeting wasn’t warm.
“Grenadier! To the attack!” he yelled amid a crowd of several hundred, according to the Miami New Times. “If anyone dies, that’s his business!”
As thousands of Haitians fled the island amid a U.S.-imposed embargo, Martelly put out an album. The title: I Don’t Care. A popular song of the same name carried this refrain, in Creole: “Those who aren’t happy — get out!”
Martelly himself got out after Aristide was ousted in his second term, in 2004, and the country was rife with kidnappings and lawlessness. He also scaled back on the constant touring, spending more time with his wife and four children in a five-bedroom, two-story house the couple purchased in Royal Palm Beach. He has since defaulted on more than $1 million in loans and lost three South Florida properties to foreclosure in just over a year, public records show.
Martelly surprised the country in August when he registered at the election office, hours before his friend Wyclef Jean filed paperwork. Some initially thought the entertainer was joking.
But Martelly showed he was a fighter. When election officials released preliminary results on Dec. 7 that barred him from a run-off, thousands of supporters and anti-government protesters poured into the streets. They paralyzed the capital by burning barricades and buildings.
Under pressure from the international community, election officials released final results showing that Martelly – and not the government’s pick, Jude Celestin – made the second round with Manigat.
“This is not a gift,” Martelly told reporters at the Oloffson.
(On a January visit U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Martelly and the two other candidates. Martelly’s charm was not lost on her. Clinton said: “Whatever happens, don’t lose that smile.”)
Since the election announcement, Martelly has kept a decidedly high profile. He has toured the countryside, hosted rallies, and exchanged online banter with Wyclef. He said he wants to bring back the army Aristide disbanded, redirect government services to the countryside and provide free education to all.
“I think Martelly might become much more polarizing than people think right now,” said Hyppolite Pierre, a Haitian political analyst based in Maryland. “We don’t need polarization in the future.”
Others find him refreshing. Repeatedly, Martelly has said he doesn’t know all the answers and would solicit answers from others — the antithesis of outgoing President René Préval, a reputed micromanager.
“What I like about Martelly is that he admits he’s not a politician,” said Maarten Boute, chief executive officer of Digicel, a cell phone company in Haiti. In a visit to South Florida earlier this month, Martelly spoke to several thousand Haitians at an amphitheater in North Miami Beach. Supporters like Miami physician and philanthropist Rudy Moise joined him on stage. Moise urged the crowd to tell family members in Haiti to pick Martelly in the runoff.
Sporting a dark suit, Martelly cracked a few jokes but mostly maintained a serious tone. He spoke about the need for tourists to invest in “our house,” the importance of Haiti’s Diaspora, and the need for decentralization.
As he wrapped up his 20-minute speech, Martelly tapped into his inner Micky.
“Sak pa kontan…” he said, awaiting a response. Those who aren’t happy…
The crowed roared in delight: “Anbake!” Get out!