President Wyclef? Haiti Could Make It a Reality
While the Christian Science Monitor website have released a report saying that award winning hip-hop act and philanthropist Wyclef Jean have formally filed his candidacy for the next presidential race in Haiti, the singer negates all notion of him going through the presidential campaign trail in his birth nation as he told the Associated Press recently.
“Do I have political intentions? At this time no,” says Jean whose humanitarian efforts in Haiti borders between socio-civic and political. No wonder his name constantly surfaces in the Haitian political arena. Adding to the speculations are his comments in a recent CNN interview where he mentioned that he was seriously considering about running for public office, which is in contrast to what Yele Haiti, Jean’s non-profit organization, has posted on its website: “At this time, Wyclef Jean has not announced his intent to run for Haitian president.”
Yele Haiti was established by Jean back in 2004 after Hurricane Jeanne struck the Caribbean nation. The organization works with poverty stricken communities in the country by providing employment opportunities, scholarships and by doing relief efforts. In the wake of the January 2010 earthquake that severely devastated Haiti and left everything in ruins, Wyclef was also a prominent figure in the relief and rebuilding efforts.
Jean’s passion for his native Haiti is also reflected in many of his songs like in “Gunpowder” where he can be heard singing the lines “the war is not over until you can feel love and peace and hear silence”, referring to the violence and socio-political unrest that has prevailed throughout the nation for decades. But his political aspirations were more evident in his 2008 single “If I were President” where he sings about his political stance and visions, both for Haiti and in a global perspective.
Since Jean broke out into the music business in 1997 and used it as his medium to express his opinions and aspirations especially for his beloved Haiti, he has been the face of a tumultuous country that has been battling corruption, poverty and injustice for years. He would have been a good fit to run and perhaps, eventually lead Haiti as evidenced by his words, his works and his position as the country’s official Goodwill Ambassador since 2007. But he may not be qualified to run in the first place by virtue of his dual citizenship (Jean also holds an American citizenship having lived in New York throughout his life) because under the Haitian Constitution, those who intend to run for public office should only hold a single citizenship and that is Haitian.
Whether or not Jean has definite political aspirations despite of what others may speculate, he will always be a prominent figure in the Haitian socio-political landscape. And clearly, he does not see the need to dive in the political arena to do that, or maybe not just yet. “What I do have is a movement — it’s called Face a Face”, Jean tells the Associated Press. “Face a Face” is a movement that encourages the young Haitian electorate to participate by registering and casting their votes in the next elections scheduled for November of this year.
